THE MP for South Basildon and East Thurrock has written to the leaders of Thurrock and Basildon Council urging them to to cancel local elections in 2026.
Mr Murdock wrote:
I am writing to you following the letter dated 18th December 2025 from the Rt Hon Alison McGovern
MP, Minister of State for Local Government and Homelessness, requesting you to “set out your views
on the postponement of your local election and whether this could release essential capacity to deliver
Local Government Reorganisation.”
As Council Leader it is important you recognise responsibility for your own actions rests
squarely on your own shoulders. The Government’s responsibility to make the final decision does
not absolve you of the consequences of the input you give them. If council elections are cancelled in
May 2026 both you and the government will be responsible.
The purpose of elections is clear and fundamental; those who exercise public power must do so with
the consent of the people. We are a nation governed by authority, not force, and that authority is
granted only through timely, democratic choice.
Elections are the process by which all council work is justified. To cancel elections on the basis that
elections would disrupt the functioning of the council is not just perverse it is categorically backwards
to the fundamental principles that allow councils to exist.
This is an important test:
Do you understand the fundamental principles on which our political system exists?
Do you believe in Democracy?
If you do, there can only be one answer and therefore only one outcome; there can be no
cancellations.
I state in clear terms, the standards by which the cancellation of elections might be justified are not
met. There is no World War. There is no Global Pandemic. There is a restructure, a restructure being
actioned and supported by the fixed and permanent council staff whose jobs are separate from the
election cycle. The elections have the potential to only impact what Councillors are involved in thatrestructure. Far from being exceptional, that is the very point of elections; so those who oversee
change are those elected by the people.
My constituents in South Basildon and East Thurrock were denied their right to elect Thurrock
Council and Essex County Council councillors in May 2025, there can be no doubt that if Basildon
had elections scheduled in 2025 they would have been cancelled also. You will be aware of the
considerable dissatisfaction these cancellations caused. To repeat or copy that failure would show
brazen disregard to the people you are charged with representing.
It is also essential to be honest about what is happening. Describing these decisions as
“postponements” or “delays” is a misclassification. Elections are not being delayed; they are being
cancelled. That is not semantics, nor is it pedantic. It is a plain statement of fact.
I remind you; your seat and its duties are laid upon you at the behest of the electorate.
I therefore urge you to publicly and unequivocally confirm to the Minister that you will not
support any cancellation of scheduled elections.
Yours sincerely,
James McMurdock MP
Member of Parliament for South Basildon and East Thurrock
