29 English council elections postponed, says Steve Reed

Evening Standard

Twenty-nine council elections will be postponed this May as part of the Government’s plan to reorganise English local authorities, Local Government Secretary Steve Reed said.Sir James Cleverly accused Mr Reed of “putting pressure on councils” to cancel their elections, and argued that it is due to “the Labour Party’s collapse in the opinion polls”.

Transcript

00:00I can now confirm my decisions to the House. I have decided to bring forward

00:06legislation to postpone 29 elections. I have deposited a list of these in the

00:12House of Commons library. I have received one further representation this

00:17morning that I will consider then report back to the House on my decision. In all

00:23other areas council elections will go ahead as planned, many having offered no

00:29evidence that it would delay reorganisation in their areas. This means

00:34of the 136 local elections across England that were scheduled for May, the vast

00:40majority will go ahead as planned. In areas where elections are postponed,

00:46existing councillors will have their terms extended for a short period. Once the

00:51new unitary councils are agreed, we will hold elections to them in 2027. I have

00:58now written to councils confirming these decisions and I will shortly lay the

01:02necessary legislation before both houses.

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