9 English council elections postponed amid native authorities shake-up | Native politics

Native elections in 9 councils throughout England are to be postponed for a yr as a part of devolution measures which is able to see native authorities within the areas reorganised, Angela Rayner has introduced.

The communities secretary, who can also be the deputy prime minister, stated her division had agreed to delay elections in half the areas that had been searching for to introduce elected mayors, telling the Commons it could be pointless to have “elections to our bodies that gained’t exist”.

However the delays to elections due in Might for 9 councils – Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Thurrock, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight and Surrey – had been condemned by the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats.

Rayner stated the shake-up of native authorities would see six elected mayors launched, for Cumbria, Cheshire and Warrington, Higher Essex, Hampshire and Solent, Norfolk and Suffolk, and Sussex and Brighton. Elections for these would occur in Might 2026, she stated.

“These locations will get a fast-track ticket to drive actual change of their space,” Rayner advised MPs, saying {that a} seventh space, Lancashire, would look at making the identical change within the autumn.

“The federal government’s place to begin is for all elections to go forward except there’s a robust justification for postponement, and the bar is excessive, and rightly so,” she stated. “After cautious consideration, I’ve solely agreed to postpone elections in locations the place that is central to our manifesto promise to ship devolution.

“We’re not within the enterprise of holding elections to our bodies that gained’t exist and the place we don’t know what’s going to exchange them. This may be an costly and irresponsible waste of taxpayers’ cash and any get together calling for these elections to go forward should clarify how this waste could be justifiable.”

The federal government’s proposals to abolish two-tier council areas had been introduced in December as a part of Labour’s intention to devolve extra energy from Westminster.

With 21 county councils and 10 unitary authorities on account of maintain elections in Might, some requested to delay them to permit time to develop proposals on reorganisation.

Different councils that sought a delay included Surrey, Warwickshire, Devon, Leicestershire, Gloucestershire, Kent and Worcestershire, in addition to Oxfordshire. The majority of the affected councils are Conservative-run, prompting accusations that the get together was searching for to keep away from electoral losses.

Kevin Hollinrake, the shadow levelling up secretary, criticised the choice to postpone elections so quickly earlier than Might.

“The Labour authorities have massively rushed this complete train,” he stated. “There was no try to collect consensus inside two-tier areas. Native residents haven’t been consulted. This complete course of must be thought-about in slower time, with correct and open session, and never imposed from Whitehall in your city corridor.”

The Liberal Democrat chief, Ed Davey – whose get together hopes to make good points in Might – stated the plan was “a disgraceful stitch-up between Labour and the Conservatives”.