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Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of running “scared” as Labour is moving to cancel more local elections in 2026.
It is expected that next year Reform will take power of many Labour councils during May’s local elections.
The Prime Minister has been called a “dictator” as his poll ratings are plummeting and the government is making the excuse of reorganising local authorities from two-tier to unitary authorities, therefore trying to demonstrate there is no point in holding the elections.
Earlier this month it was reported that Essex, Norfolk & Suffolk, Hampshire & Solent and Sussex & Brighton will have their May elections postponed.
Polling aggregator Nowcast is projecting that Farage’s party will win 17 out of 18 Essex seats and looks set to make significant gains in Hampshire and Sussex.
The local elections are being postponed until 2028 and the Liberal Democrats spokesperson Zoe Franklin called it a “disgrace.”
Franklin said, “Democracy delayed is democracy denied. We are fighting to end this blatant stitch up between Labour and the Conservatives over local elections.
“The Liberal Democrats will keep working to give millions of people their vote back in May.”
Tory MP Sir James Cleverly slammed the government has said Starmer is running “scared from the voters.
Sir James said, “Labour promised council elections would go ahead as planned as recently as last week. Now they’re saying they won’t. Another broken promise. Voters will now be denied the right to elect their own representatives – and not for the first time under this Labour Government.
“Labour are scared of the voters. They thought they could completely overhaul local government and stack the deck in their favour. They were wrong. Earlier this month, Labour cancelled mayoral elections and now they are at it again with council elections, fiddling the democratic process to serve their own political interests.
“It cannot be right that some elected representatives will now be serving seven year terms. The Electoral Commission warned the Government that elections should not be delayed by more than a year, but that has clearly fallen on deaf ears. Labour pushed these changes through at an unrealistic pace and are now blaming local leaders for not being ready.
“Labour talk a good game about empowering communities but they have shown their true colours with their top-down approach to local government and their disdain for local democracy. Only the Conservatives will ensure residents get a fair deal.”
The Reform UK leader blasted that “Turkeys don’t vote for Christmas” and is demanding the Tory leader Kemi Badenoch to tell her council leaders that the elections must go ahead.
Nigel Farage said, “Turkeys don’t vote for Christmas. Tory County Councils look set to collude with Labour to keep their control until 2027.
“Only a banana republics ban elections, that’s what we have under Starmer.”
Reform’s head of policy Zia Yusuf said, “This is a blatant attempt to stop big Reform wins next May. It’s an act of a desperate government who are clinging onto power by any means necessary.
“Labour has proven time and time again that they’re not beyond denying democracy to millions of people in order to maintain their cosy status quo.”
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