Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has said nearly 10 million people could see their democratic right to vote “ripped away” if proposed delays to some local elections in England go ahead.Sir Ed has written to the Equalities and Human Rights Commission to ask if it will investigate what he called “the government’s cavalier approach to our elections”.Reform UK’s Zia Yusuf told the BBC his party would try to hold a parliamentary vote to protest against the “extremely dangerous” delays.Last week, the government signalled it would allow postponements if asked to by councils concerned about their capacity to run elections while implementing major local government reforms.There has also been unease from some councils about spending money on elections for councillor positions that will shortly be abolished as part of the overhaul.Downing Street said “any delay would be temporary, lawful and subject to clear statutory safeguards” adding: “Councils must demonstrate exceptional reasons and ministers will scrutinise every case carefully.”Last year, the government set out plans for the biggest reorganisation of local government in England in 50 years.This included promising a mayor for every region and merging areas where there are currently two tiers of local authority by 2028.In February, the government said nine areas could postpone their 2025 elections until 2026 in order to prepare for the restructuring.Subsequently, ministers asked all 63 councils affected by the reorganisation if they required a delay to elections due in May 2026.In a statement released on Thursday, the last day before the parliamentary Christmas recess, Local Govern …
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[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nnLiberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has said nearly 10 million people could see their democratic right to vote “ripped away” if proposed delays to some local elections in England go ahead.Sir Ed has written to the Equalities and Human Rights Commission to ask if it will investigate what he called “the government’s cavalier approach to our elections”.Reform UK’s Zia Yusuf told the BBC his party would try to hold a parliamentary vote to protest against the “extremely dangerous” delays.Last week, the government signalled it would allow postponements if asked to by councils concerned about their capacity to run elections while implementing major local government reforms.There has also been unease from some councils about spending money on elections for councillor positions that will shortly be abolished as part of the overhaul.Downing Street said “any delay would be temporary, lawful and subject to clear statutory safeguards” adding: “Councils must demonstrate exceptional reasons and ministers will scrutinise every case carefully.”Last year, the government set out plans for the biggest reorganisation of local government in England in 50 years.This included promising a mayor for every region and merging areas where there are currently two tiers of local authority by 2028.In February, the government said nine areas could postpone their 2025 elections until 2026 in order to prepare for the restructuring.Subsequently, ministers asked all 63 councils affected by the reorganisation if they required a delay to elections due in May 2026.In a statement released on Thursday, the last day before the parliamentary Christmas recess, Local Govern …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]
