James Cleverly has hit out at Labour’s “arrogant” and “cocky” proposals to postpone more local elections until 2027, declaring the move “stinks”.
Speaking to GB News, the Shadow Levelling Up Secretary expressed his outrage as he accused the Government of “running scared” of elections.
Labour has confirmed ministers have written to as many as 63 local authorities offering them the opportunity to delay next year’s elections to 2027.
Plans to delay the elections will mean millions of Britons will wait even longer to have their say at the ballot box.
Delivering his verdict on the delays, Mr Cleverly told GB News: “Well, the Conservatives have made it clear, and I’ve made it clear long before this announcement, that we should not be cancelling elections.
“Elections are the foundation stone of democracy, and we should we absolutely should not be cancelling elections. What we’ve seen is the Labour Government, arrogant and naive and cocky, thinking they can completely restructure English local Government all in one go.”
He added: “Scrapping police and crime commissioners, introducing mayors, getting rid of district councils, merging them with county councils. Doing it all in one go.
“And of course they bitten off far too much, and what we now see in the opinion polls is that they are almost certainly going to have a really, really difficult night in those elections.
“They’ve used their ineptitude as an excuse to hide from the voters – it stinks and we are completely against it.”
Revealing that he has spoken to a “number of local Tory leaders” about the delay, Mr Cleverly assured they have “no intention” of cancelling their elections.
He explained: “I’ve spoken to a number of the Conservative local Government leaders, and the message I’m getting back over and over again is that they have no intention of cancelling or delaying next year’s elections.
“Now, the message that I’ve put out, the message that Kemi has put out and the conversations that I have had and will have with our local Government leaders will be consistent.”
“British people deserve the right to choose those who make decisions on their behalf. That is the foundation stone of democracy. That is what we’ll be pushing for, and that is the message I put out to political leaders of all persuasions.
“This is Labour running scared. We haven’t asked for this, they are the ones that are pushing this, and they’re basically trying to shift the blame onto local Government leaders for their own arrogance and ineptitude.”
Asked what he would do if Conservative-led councils did postpone elections, Mr Cleverly concluded: “A couple of days ago, the Labour Government announced a complete restructure of local Government finances, stripping money away from typically Conservative-held rural councils and giving it to Labour-held urban councils. So they are really putting councils into a vice, squeezing them in both directions.
“Now, as I say, we want these elections to go ahead, that’s what we’re saying to all our local Government leaders. If council leaders come to me and say, look, we are really, really, really stuffed here because of this combination of events, of course I will listen to that. But our position is clear, we want these elections to go ahead.”