Another U turn, Council elections this time.

[Imdunfer]

Love him or hate him Farage has gone to court to force the government to give people the democratic votes they are legally entitled to.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c70ne31d884o

Labour are so going to be stuffed in these elections, how long will Starmer last?

That’s not really relevant to that poster having sympathy for the staff on the ground trying to organise it. They’ll have had no say either way. You can feel sorry for them and their increased workload even if you fully support the decision.

Given the turnout for local elections most people would appear to find it perfectly acceptable.

Being denied a vote is very different to choosing not to vote.

I’m surprised that the attitude on here is that it’s ok to delay elections, in some cases, for a second year in a row. If the parties involved were reversed, I think attitudes would be very different.

That's not a good enough reason to deny those who are interested in local democracy the right to vote, in a democratic society. I mean, following that logic, if one takes into account those that didn't vote one can just as legitimately argue that your current government doesn't have a majority and therefore has no mandate for any of its manifesto ;)

I live in Sussex and would have been denied a vote... I was outraged at this and am relieved to see that democracy has been upheld.

Will it make a real difference to you that Councilors are elected afresh to a Council to be abolished next year?

If Reform are to the fore then see your neighbours in Kent for the mess that awaits.

To put this assault on local democracy in contest, postponement of elections in May this year affected just under 5 million voters. But the postponement of next years in the 150 affected authorities was also going to deny 15 million more people the vote.

There is no similar comparison on record. In 2020 all elections were postponed because of COVID, but took place in 2021. In 2021 there was another local authority reorganisation, with 6 authorities affected and under 1 million voters, who in any event got the opportunity to vote in 2022. The Government was proposing this time a reorganisation affecting over 180 councils, a 7 or 8 year term for some councillors and removing the right to vote from more than 20 million voters for up to 7 or even 8 years if the timetable slips. Which it will... All this at a time when most councils are putting forward abve inflation rises in council tax

It is clear that this was never going to fly with the Electoral Commission. And indeed last week it said that ministers do not have sufficient reason to delay elections. So why Starmer said yesterday that there would be no more U turns, 2 hours before U-turning is a mystery. This is not a Reform only driven thing - plenty of groups, and in deed the Liberal party too, have been vocal in pursuing this. Reform funded the legal action, but it could have been any of them

Selected citizens were being denied a vote. That is totally wrong in a democracy and should never be allowed. I don't want to be dictated to by anyone - I want to exercise my democratic right... and it is a right, not a privilege.

It makes a huge difference to me and many others to see that democracy has been upheld. I was not exaggerating in my post when I said that I was outraged to be denied a vote.

The good news I think is that Sussex has mostly Lib Dem MPs to the West, Labour to the east, and only a smattering of Conservatives. A very different demographic to Kent :)

Bognor and Littlehampton could go Reform, but I think it's more likely that the L:ib Dems and Conservatives will pick up some of the Labour seats, and at the same time the Lib Dems will also pick up some Conservative ones as well :)

Would it make any difference to you if Reform were trying to cancel elections and Labour were trying to reinstate them?

I think people’s political persuasions are colouring their view on this.

Elections were postponed last year due to the restructuring; why is it acceptable to postpone them for a second year without consulting Parliament. This is not a decision the Government should be making.

Democracy delayed is democracy denied.

Agreed It's a thin line between mansplaining and the inherent belief of some of the left that they are always morally right and therefore the means justify the ends :)

Sussex is a Lib Dem strong hold, and they, understandably, have been vocal about the removal of peoples democratic rights. Lib Dem local authorities tend to do well, and be liked so you can see why they would be keen to capitalise on the mess the Government is making, and why the Government would be keen to kick the can down the road.

The Electoral Commission's statement last week made it clear that the Government did not have the authority to unilaterlly postpone elections - though it has to be said in some areas Consevative as well as Labour authorities were keen to delay...

If they were postponed indefinitely, or threatened with the sort of monkey business that Trump has on the cards over the pond, I'd be outraged.

What's happening here is that there's a massive reform where two tier district/Shire County set ups are being merged to form Unitaries which will be elected in 2027. I couldn't get excited about electing councillors to manage a rundown where their scope to do anything significant is constrained by the very fact of it being a rundown.

The prospect of having a swarm of inexperienced Green or Reform types trying to learn the ropes in that set up is another reason to let things run though I accept government cant rationalise it that way.

I understand why they’re being postponed but that makes no difference. I will also hold my breath on them
being ready to hold elections next year. Most councils can’t organise a piss up in a brewery.

Glad your bar is set so low that only elections being postponed indefinitely would bother you.

To be clear, it's proposed that the elections are in 2027, but that the the new authorities won't be up and running until 2028. There is no evidence to suggest they are on track, or indeed confidence that they will be. So for the first 2 years of the new structure there will also be a swarm of inexperienced Councillors, but with the added bonus that they will be paid to do very little meaningful stuff for at least 2 years anyway :)

I was fully comfortable with the argument that it was worth saving the time and money and postponing elections in those Councils being re-organised. But I do just wish that Labour would do it's homework/take the legal advice BEFORE it makes an announcement, or at least say "this is what we're thinking subject to legal advice".
I think most, if not all, of their U turns have been brought about by lack of consultation or advice before - its just smacks of incompetence 😕

These councils could have easily planned from the outset to postpone the elections to avoid the negative publicity of cancellation, like in my area where it had been planned for no elections last year then all seats up for election this year (instead of a rotation where a third of councillors are elected annually). No one quibbled over it.

Are your comments all as well subtantiated as the ones on the thread saying Reform want women barefoot in the kitchen?

This!

I wasn’t on any thread by that name and haven’t seen it so I don’t know what you’re talking about.

I don’t know what you mean by well substantiated given that all those things I said are clearly factual. Farage and Yusuf are not elected members and he has said he doesn’t want elected members in top government positions.

He also used the argument that we should leave the EU because they were all unelected bureaucrats. His stances seem to change to what suits him most at any given time.

I see a lot of insistance that local elections are only about appointing local politicians to run local councils and about nothing else.

That isn't true and I'm not sure it ever has been.

They have always been used to signal lack of contentment with sitting governments, and at a time when the government has an enormous majority but a powerless leader who is having his and his ministers' policies overturned and dictated by his own back benchers, that function is more critical than ever.

Exactly, well put.

Like proroguing parliament or declaring Rwanda safe?

You were not denied a vote. The vote was to be delayed. Instead now you will vote for a person to be seated for a very short amount of time, when they can’t do anything to help you or any other constituent, and will be replaced with likely another vote when the councils are reorganised, meaning a costly election is being held twice, with extra money from the taxpayers to cover the cost. What a waste of time and money, just so you can say you went along and put an X in a box.

It’s your government too. You’re missing the point. Turnout is piss poor at local elections which would suggest that a quite small number would be concerned about having the opportunity to vote delayed for a short time. I bet if you asked habitual non voters what they’d like to see £63 million spent on they wouldn’t immediately alight on local elections that would have to be repeated a year later.

Yet again, people's anger should be directed to Labour and their ongoing incompetence. This is yet another utter shambles.