Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has written to the UK’s human rights watchdog asking for an investigation into the government’s plan to postpone some local elections next year.
In a letter to the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, Sir Ed said that nearly ten million people could see their democratic rights “ripped away”.
It comes after the government indicated it would postpone elections if local authorities undergoing reorganisation requested it.
In his letter, Sir Ed said: “Article 3 of the first protocol of the Human Rights Act spells out in black and white the right to free elections.
“Removing elections altogether, entirely unnecessarily, is in clear breach of this principle. Can you therefore confirm your plans to investigate the government’s cavalier approach to our elections?”
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey. File pic: PA
In a big shake-up of local government, Labour ministers want to scrap the two-tier system of district and county councils, replacing them with new unitary authorities that will deliver all local services from 2028.
Many of these are expected to be headed by local mayors, with the plan aimed at widening devolution by giving local leaders more sway over decisions in their areas.
On Thursday, the government revealed it had asked all 63 councils impacted by the shake-up and that are due to hold elections in May to say whether they require a delay, with a deadline of 15 January to respond.
In a Written Ministerial Statement (WMS), local government minister Alison McGovern said some authorities were concerned about their capacity to run the polls alongside the planned overhaul, as well as the cost to the taxpayer of holding elections for councils that will soon be abolished.
“Should a council say they have no reason for postponement, then we will listen to them,” she said.
“But if a council voices genuine concerns about its capacity, then we will take these concerns seriously,” she added.
“To that end, the secretary of state is only minded to make an order to postpone elections for one year for those councils that raise capacity concerns.”
The decision has been criticised by the electoral commission, which has said that capacity constraints aren’t a “legitimate reason for delaying long planned elections”, and the plan risks “damaging public confidence”.
There has been a furious reaction from opposition parties too.
Reform UK has threatened legal action against ministers, accusing Labour and the Tories of “colluding” to postpone elections in order to lock other parties out of power – a sentiment previously echoed by Sir Ed.
But shadow local government secretary Sir James Cleverly told Sky News last week that the Conservative Party “wants these elections to go ahead”.
Following the government’s announcement last week, Sky News contacted the 63 councils that have been sent the letter about potentially delaying their elections.
At the time, five replied saying they would request a postponement:
• Blackburn with Darwen Council (Labour);
• Chorley Borough Council (Labour);
• East Sussex County Council (Conservative minority);
• Hastings Borough Council (Green minority);
• West Sussex County Council (Conservative).
Elections originally scheduled for May 2025 in nine areas – including Essex, Suffolk, East Sussex and West Sussex – have already been postponed once.
Responding to the electoral commission’s statement, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government said it was taking a “locally-led approach” and emphasised that “councils are in the best position to judge the impact of postponements on their area”.
They added: “These are exceptional circumstances where councils have told us they’re struggling to prepare for resource-intensive elections to councils that will shortly be abolished, while also reorganising into more efficient authorities that can better serve local residents.
“There is a clear precedent for postponing local elections where local government reorganisation is in progress, as happened in 2019 and 2022.”
