“We Won’t Be Druv” – Fury As Conservative Leader Of East Sussex County Council Asks To Suspend Local Elections

Opposition councillors on East Sussex County Council reacted with dismay as the Conservative Leader of the Council refused to alter his letter to central government putting the council forward as an early adopter of devolution and asking for local elections next May to be suspended. Although it is the Secretary of State that will make the final decision, there was strong opposition from all opposition councillors to including a request to postpone local elections in May. 

Cllr Kathryn Field, Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrat group said: “This is an appalling abuse of democracy. The Conservatives have lost control nationally and locally and are limping along trying to run a minority administration in East Sussex. They do not have any mandate for the decision they are taking. We need local elections so that we can go forward with devolution proposals on a democratically elected basis.

It is bad enough that the Labour government are disbanding local government and imposing unitary authorities under an elected Mayor. There will now be no local elections for the next two to three years, meaning that essentially one person – the Leader of the Council – will make decisions about the future government of East Sussex”.

Cllr Steve Holt, Eastbourne County Councillor and Leader of Eastbourne Borough Council adds: “There is a strong argument for unitary authorities done properly. However, this White Paper has been rushed through without allowing any time for consultation. East Sussex County Council has had just eleven working days to come up with proposals that completely change the way local government is delivered in the county. 

"The imposition of a Mayor will still leave a two tier system in place and the cost of re-organisation together with the cost of running the new system will simply add to the financial burdens faced by local people.

"It leaves a whole layer of local government – the Town and Parish councils – completely untethered and unreformed and able to raise whatever they want in council tax.

Labour have simply taken a sledgehammer to local democracy”.