With a General Election around the corner, we asked the leader of Leicestershire County Council Nick Rushton what the local area needs from Westminster in the coming years. 

He said local government funding needs to be looked at by the country's leaders as there is not enough cash to deliver the services residents rely on.

A change in Government is looking likely with Labour predicted to win a historic victory when the country goes to the polls on Thursday, while the Conservatives look set for huge losses up and down the country. 

We asked Ashby-based Cllr Rushton what he needs from the next Government and the county's next MPs regardless of who wins.

He said what Leicestershire needs most is a fairer funding settlement from the Government. 

Cllr Rushton said: "Obviously the main thing which we've been bleating on about for years, is treating the funding of Leicestershire fairly. It's not particularly saying to the government we need as much funding as, say, I don't know some of the really deprived areas, but we do need better funding.

"We cannot constantly be the lowest funded county council in the country. It's singularly unfair on the county council, and it's unfair on the electors of Leicestershire that they contribute just as much in their taxes, et cetera, and yet their biggest local authority is funded quite so poorly."

The leader said the county is "constantly trying to rejig" and "ration" how it provides services. More money from the Government would mean "better services and no increase in costs" for residents, he added.

"The general electorate, are fed up with potholes, they're fed up with dirty signs, they're fed up with overgrown verges, they're fed up with no road markings, they're fed up with speeding traffic past schools," Cllr Rushton continued. "So fair funding will help bridge the gap with some of those."

The Conservative leader also raised the problem of Leicestershire's promised devolution deal. The county was one of the first areas to be invited to strike a devolution deal with the Government which would have seen £1 billion of investment into the area, but came with the caveat that it had to be a joint deal with the city and Rutland – and all three areas would need a mayor overseeing the deal to get the full funding, something to which the city would not agree.

Cllr Rushton said: "We're in favour of devolution and devolving powers down to local people to make local decisions but we we don't want to be left behind by the so called D2N2 [group of Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire] that's now got itself an elected mayor.

"Whoever wins please don't leave us behind in the devolution agenda and please do focus on the devolution agenda. They all talk about it, nobody delivers it."

The leader of the county council also spoke on planning, saying the country needs to revert back to "strategic planning" saying because the districts have responsibility for new homes, but the county is responsible for infrastructure like roads and schools, the infrastructure "doesn't necessarily follow the housing".

He added: "We need to help people get a foot on the property ladder by building more homes. But we do need some strategic thinking about where we're going to put it and what it's going to come with.

"I'm not opposed to a housing per se. I am opposed to boxes on spine roads with no infrastructure."

In respect of possible new MPs in the county, Cllr Rushton simply said he would "work with whoever is elected" and "invite them in", saying it was in the interest of Leicestershire residents for the council and the county's representatives in Parliament to have a good relationship.