LABOUR COUNCILLOR TRYING TO DELAY ELECTIONS COULD LOSE JOB
A Labour council leader could become the first to lose his job for asking to delay local elections.
Christopher Watkins is to face a vote of no confidence as leader of Nuneaton & Bedworth borough council on Wednesday.
Mr Watkins, whose party has no overall control, wrote to the Government earlier this month to ask for a delay, arguing that holding an election in May would not be a “prudent use of resources”.
Like many other council leaders asking for polls to be delayed, he claimed that the authority needed time to “properly prepare” for plans to restructure parts of the local government system.
Kristofer Wilson, the Tory group leader, who submitted the motion of no confidence, argued that such changes could not be compared to other major world events when it was justified to cancel elections – such as the pandemic and the Second World War.
“This isn’t about saving money, this isn’t about reform to councils in any meaningful way, shape or form – this is about them running scared from the voter,” he said.
The Telegraph is campaigning to save democracy by ensuring council elections cannot be cancelled so easily.
Four million people are likely to be denied a vote in May if Sir Keir Starmer’s government approves of requests to delay polls.
Twenty-eight local authorities, 22 of them Labour-run, have applied to postpone elections scheduled for May.
It is the first known case where a council leader is facing a vote of no confidence over his attempts to postpone elections.
If Cllr Watkins loses the vote, he will be forced to step down.
‘Concern was expressed’
In a letter seen by The Telegraph, the council leader informed the minister of state for local government that he had discussed delaying elections at a “full meeting” of his Labour group and it was “decided” that they would ask for a postponement.
“Although, as you will see, our preparation for the elections is well under way, it was felt that holding elections for a local authority that is shortly to be abolished is not a prudent use of resources,” Cllr Watkins wrote in the Jan 5 letter.
“Concern was expressed about the considerable effort required to prepare for [Local Government Reorganisation], and that some of the money saved could be put towards this important preparatory work.”
Within the same letter, the council leader acknowledged that his 18 councillors do not have a majority – with a total of 18 out of 38 elected councillors.
Statements from the leaders of the opposing parties represented were also included, all of whom are against Cllr Watkins’ decision.
“Fundamentally, elections should always go ahead as planned whenever possible,” wrote Michele Kondakor, leader of the Green Party.
A statement from Tom Shardlow, the council’s chief executive and returning officer, also confirmed that “preparations for the forthcoming elections” were progressing, including the recruitment of staff and bookings for venues.
“I am satisfied that the council can deliver a lawful and transparent election, should the May 2026 elections go ahead,” Mr Shardlow wrote.
On Monday secretary of state for Local Government Steve Reed wrote to four council leaders to ask for more explicit responses on whether they wished to postpone elections.
Letters addressed to the leaders of Essex County Council, Norfolk County Council, Oxford City Council and Southampton City Council all requested for them to clarify their positions.
The identical letters noted that some leaders had made “explicit requests for postponement, and others have made explicit requests for elections to go ahead”.
They continued: “However, there are a small number of councils who have set out how postponement would release essential capacity to facilitate reorganisation, but did not make a clear request of whether or not they want their elections postponed.
“Your representation is one of these.”
The secretary of state, who asked for a response by 10am on Tuesday, added: “In the absence of a clear request on whether your election should be postponed, I will assume that your council’s view is that your election should go ahead.”
The Telegraph approached all four leaders for a response and when contacted, Oxford City leader Cllr Susan Brown confirmed she had requested for 2026 elections to go ahead.
Cllr Susan Brown, Leader of Oxford City Council, said: “Our original letter did not request postponing elections and made it clear that councillors wanted them to go ahead, as well as answering the Secretary of State’s questions. We have reconfirmed that position.”
Cllr Kevin Bentley, Leader of Essex County Council, told the Telegraph: “We will not be asking for the postponement of elections in 2026.”
Delay attempt is ‘like hitting a nuclear button’
Cllr Wilson believed the attempt to delay polls was an “anti-democratic” move which “interferes with residents’ rights”.
He told The Telegraph: “I’m very aware that a motion of no confidence is a bit like hitting a nuclear button.
“Once you hit it, you can’t really stop it... if there were a clear timeline about local government reform there would be, perhaps, a justifiable argument, but we have no clear timetable.”
Cllr Wilson, who is one of 17 Tory councillors for Nuneaton & Bedworth, added: “This isn’t Covid, where we had the elections delayed by a year and it certainly is not the Second World War where there was 10 years between a general election.
“It looks like Labour, nationally, are trying to save as many seats as they can and if it walks like a duck and it quacks like a duck, then it’s a duck at the end of the day.”
The Telegraph has contacted Cllr Watkins for a response.
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2026-01-19T13:55:43Z