Originally posted on
The MJ
Following Labour’s decision to press on with forthcoming elections after all, one administration says it will no longer assist in redrawing constituency and boundary lines.
According to Kay Mason Billig, leader of Norfolk County Council, the authority is unable to cooperate in the process of local government reorganisation (LGR) as it needs to focus on the forthcoming vote.
‘We cannot consent to the new statutory instrument that is necessary to set up our mayoral county combined authority in the months before our elections, so that’s it,’ she explained. ‘The Conservative Group is resolved that we will not be assisting this government in delivering LGR.’
The move comes after Housing Secretary Steve Reed announced that elections in May which were due to be postponed would go ahead. Delays to voting had been proposed due to the wholesale reorganisation – and in some cases, dissolution – of the councils involved, however Reform accused the Labour of pushing back polling dates in a bid to cling on to power.
Reform has since accused Downing Street of u-turning on the postponement because it was worried about losing any related court battle. The government has denied this. It is not clear what legal grounds Norfolk now has to abandon its cooperative stance on LGR, but a spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said the department was still committed to working with all authorities.
Image: Harry Borrett / Unsplash
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