Page 3 | Do you care if your local Council cancels their/your local election in May?

IwantToRetire · 2026-01-19T19:46:30+00:00

^Twenty-nine councils have requested a delay to their local elections which are due to take place in May. Of these, 21 are led by Labour, four are Conservative, two are Liberal, one is Green, and one is Independent.^ ^It comes as Labour’s plans to scrap two-tier authorities and merge them into single unitary councils by 2028 are implemented.^ ^The councils said a lack of resources needed to deliver local government reorganisation (LGR), and the cost of holding elections has led to the need for a delay. ^ ^The councils that have asked for a delay:^ - ^Basildon Borough Council (Labour)^ - ^Blackburn with Darwen Council (Labour)^ - ^Burnley Borough Council (Burnley Independent Group)^ - ^Cannock Chase District Council (Labour)^ - ^Cheltenham Borough Council (Lib Dem)^ - ^Chorley Borough Council (Labour)^ - ^City of Lincoln Council (Labour)^ - ^Crawley Borough Council (Labour)^ - ^East Sussex County Council (Tory)^ - ^Exeter City Council (Labour)^ - ^Harlow District Council (Tory)^ - ^Hastings Borough Council (Green)^ - ^Hyndburn Borough Council (Labour)^ - ^Ipswich Borough Council (Labour)^ - ^Norwich City Council (Labour)^ - ^Pendle Borough Council (Lib Dem)^ - ^Peterborough City Council (Labour)^ - ^Preston City Council (Labour)^ - ^Redditch Borough Council (Labour)^ - ^Rugby Borough Council (Labour)^ - ^Stevenage Borough Council (Labour)^ - ^Tamworth Borough Council (Labour)^ - ^Thurrock Council (Labour)^ - ^Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council (Labour)^ - ^West Lancashire Borough Council (Labour)^ - ^West Sussex County Council (Tory)^ - ^Worthing Borough Council (Labour)^ Or maybe you think local councils / councillors aren't that relevant or important? Full article [[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/local-elections-delay-councils-list-reform-b2902417.html https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/local-elections-delay-councils-list-reform-b2902417.html]]

caringcarer · 20/01/2026 23:03

My council is one of the ones refusing to allow residents to get a vote and I'm raging about it. We have a useless Labour council I want to vote against to try to get rid of them. I'm not alone in these thoughts. It's scandalous they know full well they will lose so they cancel them.

Boggpeat · 20/01/2026 22:59

IwantToRetire · 19/01/2026 20:26

I'm not thinking its a conspiracy.

More the usual cock up.

How come that the period on consultation was organised to overlap with what is the well in advance notice of the date of the next local elections.

Does anyone know what the date is that the restructuring should be completed by and how long after that elections will be held?

We are supposed to be merging within the next three years.

Original poster

IwantToRetire · 20/01/2026 21:01

I’m still to understand why decisions in my city being made by a far bigger body is about giving better local control.

Part of me thinks this isn't anything to do with you as a local resident.

This is about a lot of people, not always consciously, being influenced by US social structures.

They want to be Mayor or whatever the top political post will be of a large area. Which may say in terms of providing joined up public transport be a good thing.

But suspect that at a local area smaller (in terms of size) issues that are making people's lives misery will just get lost.

A local council is more likely to listen to say a housing estate within its boundaries, but that housing estate getting its voice heard at the larger more distant council is greatly reduced.

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tesseractor · 20/01/2026 20:44

Ours got cancelled last year - requested due to the proposed (and of course now delayed) reorganisation. Local word is that it was more due to an unholy alliance between the Labour run 2 big unitary authorities, and the Tory run county council who were both running scared about how Reform would do. The districts (mine if Lib Dem) didn’t get much of a say.

They have realised they can’t request that again - and if the govt decide we’re not having elections again this year it really just compounds the idea that the reorganisation is not about giving local power. I’m still to understand why decisions in my city being made by a far bigger body is about giving better local control.

Olderbutt · 20/01/2026 19:45

Theeyeballsinthesky · 19/01/2026 19:56

Local councils/councillors are extremely important and relevant

however, nearly every first tier local authority is also skint overwhelmed with social care and SEND. A lot of second tier ones are also struggling financially

local elections are very expensive to run but we need them

I don't know what the answer is

Absolutely 💯

Tunnocksmilkchocolatemallow · 20/01/2026 19:43

IwantToRetire · 20/01/2026 19:16

Sadly with how political parties work you wont get anyone with any guts and dare I say integrity putting themselves forward to be a councillor.

They will be good team members.

Maybe the solution is that local councils should not have Councillors whose loyalties to a party, but more like a Management Committe where people get selected for their skills.

And more importantly some knowledge of the area ie where the pot holes are, where an LTN has meant the posh houses have polution free road to live on, but round the corner poorer people are lef to live with not only the pollution they have always had but the extra pollution from those who used to drive down the roads now LTNs.

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Those without integrity can be voted out at the next election.

Original poster

IwantToRetire · 20/01/2026 19:16

Tunnocksmilkchocolatemallow · 20/01/2026 18:52

This is why we need elections, so we can elect in councillors who will hold such local government officers to account!

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Sadly with how political parties work you wont get anyone with any guts and dare I say integrity putting themselves forward to be a councillor.

They will be good team members.

Maybe the solution is that local councils should not have Councillors whose loyalties to a party, but more like a Management Committe where people get selected for their skills.

And more importantly some knowledge of the area ie where the pot holes are, where an LTN has meant the posh houses have polution free road to live on, but round the corner poorer people are lef to live with not only the pollution they have always had but the extra pollution from those who used to drive down the roads now LTNs.

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xanthomelana · 20/01/2026 18:52

Tunnocksmilkchocolatemallow · 20/01/2026 18:49

This. What next? Cancel general elections?

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Don’t give them any more ideas. I agree that they shouldn’t be cancelled, we can find money for other things so why not this?

Tunnocksmilkchocolatemallow · 20/01/2026 18:52

CheeseChamp · 19/01/2026 21:34

I work in local government and can honestly say that who you elect as your local councillor makes not a blind bit of difference to how it all works and the decisions that are made. The democratic element is all show. They do what the officers recommend 99% of the time and pick the 1% of trendy issues to claim success about.

I realised this 15 or so years ago when I was a minion sitting in a meeting about agreeing a very large multi billion contract. When asked how he would consult with councillors on reducing frequency of bin collections due to the political sensitivity of the issue the contractor programme manager laughed and said by the time it gets to them it will be too late to say no, and saving money was all we needed to be concerned with and we all in that room got to decide.

Waste of time, delay it, don't delay it. Makes no difference.

This is why we need elections, so we can elect in councillors who will hold such local government officers to account!

Tunnocksmilkchocolatemallow · 20/01/2026 18:49

GoldbergVariations · 19/01/2026 20:47

It is an abuse of due process and an abomination. Without democracy we have nothing.

This. What next? Cancel general elections?

Original poster

IwantToRetire · 20/01/2026 18:28

I respect 3point5's robust defence of Councils, and it may well be that there are exceptions, but you only have to look at what happened to Grenfell to know it rarely happens.

Some years ago my mother received care at home based on health and social workers assessment. It was a high level of care and the local council agreed to cover the costs - and then gave the contract to an employment agency that mainly dealt with find temporary staff for restuarant kitchens. So the agency admitted they couldn't provide the type of care my mother was supposed to recieved from appropriately trained staff. I didn't put in a formal complaint the council agreed to a meeting to talk through the issues. When I got to the meeting I met this woman who basically said as she was retiring in a couple of weeks could I just let the issue drop as she didn't want it on her record!

This is a totally different council to mine, and one of my siblings in yet another area is having an absolute nightmare in relation to care provision for his son along with neighbour harrassment based on bullying someone with a disability.

None of the systems work.

The role that 3point5 seems to play, ie monitoring to see if something agreed is carried through from beginning to end, was common. But you would probably need as many people doing this as those doing the actual work.

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Original poster

IwantToRetire · 20/01/2026 18:12

CheeseChamp · 20/01/2026 09:08

Oh dear I think i know where that is, if so I used to work there 🤣 I think the only reason to do the democratic process is to get people out and hope the next one in is better. Particularly when you have a mayor involved (the least democratic thing i have ever seen in this system to be honest). Councillors are local busy bodies for the most part and have a role to play in dealing with some very local issues. Mayors are actively dangerous. The borough i now work in is a mess mainly due to Mayoral politics disrupting all the work, it is ridiculous.

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I wonder if it is.

But now feel, from talking to others, and being on Next Door etc., that it is true in many places.

Not sure if it is worse in Labour Councils where, because they want good relation with whichever union their staff are members of, they just will not ever criticise an officer.

In a more recent set of circumstances I have been set such bat shit "explanations" from Councillors who assure me it must be true because officers told them it.

Also, in my local councils the Labour Party had now split into factions so public meetings are more about their factional dramas, to the extent that these meetings have limited the number of items that can be on the agenda and only time for 1 or 2 responses whether from other councillors or members of the public.

And yes Labour will get back in with a huge majority, not because those of us who have suffered their maladministration for years, but all the rich new comers who have colonised the area, and want to signal how "radical" they are.

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TheignT · 20/01/2026 13:10

If it makes people more enthusiastic about council elections then that's a good thing in itself. I speak as a polling clerk who has sat bored to death for local elections. One was so bad we joked about going out and dragging people in. The nice police officer went to the shop to top up supplies as we had eaten our days supply of food by lunchtime because we're so bored. Money for old rope but it was such a looong day.

3point5 · 20/01/2026 13:03

CheeseChamp · 20/01/2026 12:57

I don't disagree with that. I've worked in 6 LAs now and only one had semi decent governance that was actually followed. It still felt like cllrs made zero difference to most of what went on. Maybe if you work at a higher levels you are in that bubble that makes it seem that is what is happening, but are you sure you sure it was actually effective and followed through to the lower levels of the org and impacted things that actually mattered?

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Yes because part of my job was to follow things through from the highest level down to the detailed level and back again. Like I say there's just such wide variantce between different authorities and part of that is influenced by the leadership both at an executive level but also at a councillor level. Where we had active involved and professional councillors and honest and transparent officers you could get real and effective change.

There's loads of really good work going on in local government and I find it astonishing that some people haven't come across this.

CheeseChamp · 20/01/2026 12:57

3point5 · 20/01/2026 10:18

What you are describing in your post @CheeseChamp suggests a seriously flawed organization where nobody understood the rules they should be following. That's a poor reflection on the officers.

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I don't disagree with that. I've worked in 6 LAs now and only one had semi decent governance that was actually followed. It still felt like cllrs made zero difference to most of what went on. Maybe if you work at a higher levels you are in that bubble that makes it seem that is what is happening, but are you sure you sure it was actually effective and followed through to the lower levels of the org and impacted things that actually mattered?

3point5 · 20/01/2026 10:18

3point5 · 20/01/2026 10:17

I completely disagree. I have worked in a variety of local government organisations - in Close contact with councillors and at a high level - and the difference a robust and on the ball councillor can make is enormous.

They also set the strategic direction and priorities for the authority and these can differ hugely between different local authorities

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What you are describing in your post @CheeseChamp suggests a seriously flawed organization where nobody understood the rules they should be following. That's a poor reflection on the officers.

3point5 · 20/01/2026 10:17

CheeseChamp · 19/01/2026 21:34

I work in local government and can honestly say that who you elect as your local councillor makes not a blind bit of difference to how it all works and the decisions that are made. The democratic element is all show. They do what the officers recommend 99% of the time and pick the 1% of trendy issues to claim success about.

I realised this 15 or so years ago when I was a minion sitting in a meeting about agreeing a very large multi billion contract. When asked how he would consult with councillors on reducing frequency of bin collections due to the political sensitivity of the issue the contractor programme manager laughed and said by the time it gets to them it will be too late to say no, and saving money was all we needed to be concerned with and we all in that room got to decide.

Waste of time, delay it, don't delay it. Makes no difference.

I completely disagree. I have worked in a variety of local government organisations - in Close contact with councillors and at a high level - and the difference a robust and on the ball councillor can make is enormous.

They also set the strategic direction and priorities for the authority and these can differ hugely between different local authorities

CheeseChamp · 20/01/2026 09:08

IwantToRetire · 19/01/2026 22:13

Not wanting to go off topic but I realised that some years ago when after a lot of formal and informal requests someone was sent from my local council to assess a problem with water not draining off the road.

This was because local councillors had asked for all cycle crossings roads should be level with the pavement ie lower the curb or raise the road level.

They went for raise the road so that rain water no longer drained toward a drain hole, but away from it!

The "officer" was quite happy to say that yes there was a sort of complicit agreement that officers could get on with how and if they wanted to progress any work so long as Councillors could on occassions stand up and anounce some totally useless vanity project or one that virtue signalled to those they thought worth appealing to.

The local council concerned has some of the worse social housing in terms of how long it takes repairs to be done, and other issues. Has had its system hacked, and years later people are being taken to court for unpaid rates that in fact they have paid. (One man has spent the past 10 years trying to get them to admit they were wrong!)

And as is common in many inner city areas more time and consideration is given to wealthier incomers that existing poorer residents.

And have a good money spinner in LTNs, some (maybe dodgy?) deals with Lime bikes etc..