Elections put back to 2021

The government had already made clear they were going to put back this year's elections, but yesterday they formally laid the regulations which will postpone all elections in England which would otherwise have taken place before 6th May 2021 to that date.

That includes Mayoral and PCC elections, scheduled local government elections and by-elections.

To the best of my knowledge the specific regulations which the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) wrote to councils about apply specifically to England: I presume the same will be done for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, though this may be a matter for the devolved bodies.

Obviously this will have caused some inconvenience to candidates and activists of all parties and independents, many people but I don't really see that the government had much choice.

Putting the elections back a year removes the risk of causing a double whammy by having to move them a second time if the COVID-19 situation has not eased by the autumn, and causes less disruption than holding them on any other date.

It's one of the few changes caused by Coronavirus which saves more money than it costs, as the elections can take place at the same time as those which were already scheduled for that date.

I don't see this as putting democracy second to fighting the disease - if the government had let the elections go ahead in May there would have been an atrocious turnout unless they could give everyone a postal vote, which there probably wasn't time to organise.

Far better to put the elections back a year and hold them properly with a decent turnout and opportunities to campaign than to hold a "stealth election" with no campaigning and very few people voting.

If it looks six months out like we might not be through the COVID-19 situation sufficiently to hold a normal election by May 2021 then arrangements should be put in place for all-postal voting.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Perhaps clarity on the future council arrangements will have been arrived at by then.
Chris Whiteside said…
Had it not been for Covid-19 I would have said there was a very good chance that we will know by May 2021 what council structures will be in place going forward, and that in consequence there might well be elections to a new authority rather than a new round of elections to the existing county council.

Because of the Coronavirus pandemic the discussions and negotiations about this appear to have come to a juddering halt.

I would hope we can get them going again soon but you will understand why this is not as high up anyone's agenda as it had been.
Gary Bullivant said…
Wasn't this reorganisation a hobby horse for the last Powerhouse minister? Now that Shapps and Transport have the lead it looks dead in the water, virus or no virus. A pity, really, because I was really looking forward to seeing Mike Starkie going up against quality Conservative and Labour candidates as well as other Independent candidates who could draw away those second votes. Having said that, one Mayor and two councils is a ridiculous idea.
Chris Whiteside said…
The previous minister was keen on local government reform, but even after he returned to the backbenches, until the Coronavirus pandemic sucked all the oxygen away it did seem likely to go ahead.

I'm not putting my shirt on any outcome at the moment.

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