The government offered councils scheduled to have elections this year the chance to postpone them
Councils in Cambridgeshire have now set out whether they plan to hold elections this year, after central government offered the chance to delay them. Most councils in the area due to hold elections in May have said they intend to still go ahead, but one has announced it would like to postpone them.
Alison McGovern, Minister of State for Local Government and Homelessness, wrote to council leaders towards the end of last year asking if they would like to delay this year’s local elections, due to local government reorganisation.
Ms McGovern said elections could be delayed if councils had “genuine concerns” about having enough capacity to hold them while also working on local government reorganisation.
Under local government reorganisation the existing councils in Cambridgeshire could be abolished and replaced with new unitary authorities. The unitary councils would provide all the services currently split between Cambridgeshire County Council and the district councils.
Peterborough City Council is currently a unitary council, but is included in the reorganisation project. Last year councillors agreed to submit four possible options to government for what the new council structure in Cambridgeshire could look like.
Four councils in the area are scheduled to hold elections in May, including Cambridge City Council, South Cambridgeshire District Council, Huntingdonshire District Council, and Peterborough City Council. Each of these councils has been offered the chance to delay elections due to local government reorganisation. Here is how each of these councils has responded.
Cambridge City Council
Earlier this month the leader of the city council, Councillor Cameron Holloway (Labour), issued a statement confirming that he intended to write to government ministers to say that he felt there is no need to postpone the elections. He said: “We want to go ahead with elections as planned in May.
“Different councils will have different circumstances, but we feel that we have the capacity to go ahead with elections this year while also making a success of local government reorganisation. I look forward to continuing to work with and for Cambridge residents in the coming months, and to standing for election in May.”
This decision was welcomed by opposition councillors at the authority. Councillor Tim Bick (Liberal Democrat) said he was “delighted that city people won’t be denied their verdict on another year of Labour in power”. He added holding this year’s elections “should never have been in question”.
Councillor Elliot Tong (Green Party) said he was “extremely pleased” local elections would be going ahead as planned, but argued the government’s offer to delay them had “shown that they don’t believe local democracy is sacrosanct”.
South Cambridgeshire District Council
Councillor Bridget Smith (Liberal Democrat), leader of the district council, confirmed earlier this month that the council administration would not be asking to postpone the elections in May.
She said: “It is not right for central government to be demanding that councillors decide whether residents should be denied the opportunity to vote or not.
“This chaotic Labour government needs to take ownership of its decisions, rather than pushing them onto local councils, who are bearing the brunt of local government reorganisation.”
Huntingdonshire District Council
A special council meeting was held this week (January 14) where councillors at the district council were asked whether they supported holding elections this year, or wanted to postpone them. A majority of councillors agreed that elections should take place as planned, with 43 councillors voting in support and one abstaining.
Councillor Sarah Conboy (Liberal Democrat), leader of the district council, started the meeting by proposing that the authority should support going ahead with the elections.
Councillor Lara Davenport-Ray (Green Party) highlighted that the report prepared by officers said postponing the elections would only have a “limited” impact on the council’s ability to prepare for reorganisation. She added that elections are also important for democracy and said they are “what sets democracy apart from oppressive regimes”.
Councillor Ross Martin (Conservative) said holding elections is the right thing to do, adding that council’s authority comes from the mandate given to it by the public at elections, which he said is a “leasehold not a freehold and it has an end date”.
Councillor Martin Hassall (Independent) said he would be abstaining from the vote, but said he believed there is a “risk” to holding elections. He claimed “swapping out decision makers” would not help the authority try to deliver its preferred reorganisation model to have a standalone Huntingdonshire unitary council.
Peterborough City Council
The city council is the only council in Cambridgeshire to say that it will be asking to delay its elections this year. Councillor Shabina Qayyum (Labour), leader of the city council, said it was important that the city council had the capacity to deliver local government reorganisation, whilst maintaining service delivery for people in Peterborough.
She said: “Elections are an essential part of the democratic process and many members, like myself, welcome the chance to go to the ballot box to give residents the chance to decide who they want to represent them. Therefore, cabinet members have not taken this response to the question from government lightly.
“We are looking after services that really do look after life and death scenarios as they attempt to navigate a path through local government reorganisation.”
Cllr Qayyum added: “If postponing local elections for one year means we are able to release the essential capacity needed to achieve those aims and deliver local government reorganisation successfully, then we must support it. It is now the Secretary of State’s decision on whether the elections in May proceed as planned or not.”
