Seems to me the Tories are going into the General Election on "local issues" that they can then present themselves as the opposition to local government who are responsible for the decline in services. They know they'll lose on the "big" national issues.
We got letters from our Tory MP a couple of days ago where there was absolutely NO Conservative branding at all. Photos of her standing in well-known locations about the town and the blurb was all about dealing with local issues. She's been the MP for 15 years and is barely seen in the constituency (or in Parliament, either). She lives in a mansion in another county.