Labour minister says voters wish to cancel ‘pointless’ native elections | Politics | News | EUROtoday

The public needs “pointless” native elections to “zombie” councils to be cancelled, a Cabinet minister has insisted. Local Government Secretary Steve Reed is ready to approve postponements to ballots due in May for greater than 25 city halls, the bulk managed by Labour, which is able to have an effect on thousands and thousands of voters.

But the transfer to delay elections for a second 12 months as a part of the Government’s reorganisation of native authorities has sparked fury from opposition events together with Reform UK. Writing in The Times, Mr Reed mentioned: “Ask the public if they think it’s a good idea to elect thousands of councillors to jobs that are set to be abolished.

“Ask them in the event that they wish to defend native authorities duplication throughout the nation two chief executives, two units of councillors, two finance officers and so forth.

“Then tell them running a series of elections for short-lived zombie councils will be costly, time consuming and will take scarce resources away from frontline services like fixing potholes and social care. They would probably say: don’t do it.”

Mr Reed swiped that opposition events “want pointless elections” whereas “Labour wants to fix potholes”.

He added: “Outside of Westminster it’s obvious what’s more important.”

Labour is trying to substitute the two-tier system of county and district councils with single unitary councils by 2029, which ministers say can be extra environment friendly.

The Government requested 63 councils final month in the event that they wished to push again elections as a part of the shake-up.

But Reform chief Nigel Farage has vowed to mount a authorized problem towards the transfer.

He mentioned: “Some of these elections were cancelled last year. How many years of cancelling elections is acceptable, Mr Reed? The electoral process should be part of the debate about local government reorganisation. I say, let the people vote.”

Reform has argued elections are being cancelled in areas the place it’s more likely to carry out properly.

It comes as Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is going through intense stress over the ballots, that are broadly anticipated to be a massacre for Labour.