LABOUR has been accused of “manoeuvring” to cancel next year’s local elections including Harlow and Essex.
The accusations came after Local Government minister, Alison McGovern, spoke on the last day of parliament before the Christmas recess
Dozens of councils are set to be abolished or merged as part of a push towards more unitary authorities.
Ms McGovern told MPs: “Many councils across the country, and of all stripes, have expressed… concerns about the time and energy spent managing elections to bodies that won’t shortly exist, only to run an election a year later.’
Ms McGovern said ministers were ‘minded’ to cancel elections wherever local authorities said they might put pressure on time and resources. She added: ‘To be clear, should a council say that they have no reason to delay their elections, there will be no delay.”
Conservative elections spokesman Sir James Cleverly said Labour was ‘running scared of the voters’, adding: ‘They thought they could completely overhaul local government and stack the deck in their favour. They were wrong.
‘Earlier this month, Labour cancelled mayoral elections and now they are at it again with council elections, fiddling the democratic process to serve their own political interests.’
The decision to cancel elections for a second year in places such as Essex comes despite a warning from the Electoral Commission that they should not be postponed for more than 12 months.
Cllr Lynn Worrall, Leader of Thurrock Council, said:
“Firstly I want to be clear that decisions around changes to elections are a matter for government, not local councils. This is clearly an important safeguard that protects a fair democratic system.
“The Government will be aware of the complexities and interdependencies around local government reorganisation and devolution which previously led to them postponing this year’s elections in some areas including Thurrock. It is for them to weigh up the various arguments for and against holding local elections for councils that will not exist in two years’ time, with our residents’ right to elect their local representatives at regular intervals.
“In the last couple of weeks the council has been impacted by three significant Government announcements. First the Government announced a surprise change to the devolution and Mayoral election timetable that we have had to work with colleagues across Essex to digest and respond to. Yesterday we received the local government finance settlement which requires significant analysis to fully understand its impact on Thurrock’s budget proposals. Finally today we receive this request for views on the elections. There is a huge amount to assess and respond to on behalf of our residents.
“I need to consult Thurrock councillors across all parties, our neighbouring councils, and carefully consider the feedback that Government has asked for by the deadline they have given us. I will consider all options to allow all councillors to have their say on this matter.
“However, I do want to reassure residents that as things stand, I and my Labour party colleagues continue to work relentlessly towards May’s elections, and will be out knocking on doors and talking to residents this weekend, as we do every week.”
Film of the debate is below.
