Labour MPs are “furious” after a humiliating Government U-turn on postponing dozens of council elections in May – the 14th about turn since the government took power.
Ministers were facing demands to quit or be sacked from their own colleagues after abandoning the “stupid” plan to postpone polls across 30 councils after Nigel Farage’s Reform threatened a legal challenge.
However, it is understood Local Government Secretary Steve Reed is not considering resigning over the 14th U-turn under Sir Keir Starmer, while No 10 sources said he has the full confidence of the Prime Minister.
The decision to delay polls in 30 local authorities due on May 7 until 2027 was taken due to to restructure of local authorities. But the cabinet minister in charge of local government, Steve Reed, abandoned the plans after lawyers warned the Government that it was likely to lose a legal challenge to the move launched by Farage’s Reform UK.
‘Another thing to beat us over the head with’
The latest in a string of U-turns has sparked anger among Labour MPs, while experts predicted that Sir Keir Starmer would now face more losses than previously expected in 7 May local elections, and could therefore face even greater pressure on his position in No 10 in the aftermath.
One Labour MP said: “Whichever MHCLG [Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government] minister has delivered the biggest win straight on the plate of Farage needs to be sacked”
Another said colleagues in affected areas are “furious”.
“I would have thought the Government would have changed legislation first to enable what they wanted.”
A third Labour MP said the decision to postpone the elections was a “stupid idea”.
The backbencher said that it epitomised the Government’s naivety because while it might have made “logical sense on a spreadsheet”, it had given Labour’s opponents “another thing to beat us over the head with”.
The MP said that while governments sometimes had to make controversial decisions and weather the consequences, it had been a mistake to fight a battle over local elections at a time when the Parliamentary Labour Party was “tearing itself apart and a challenger party [Reform UK] is on the rise”.
An even bigger danger moment for Starmer now
Conservative elections expert Lord Hayward told The i Paper that the local elections would now be even more of a danger moment for Starmer, with many expecting he could face a leadership challenge.
According to JL Partners polling, Labour is forecast to lose control of six councils due to elections which will now proceed: Blackburn with Darwen, Cannock Chase, Exeter, Preston, Thurrock and Worthing.
The U-turn is “going to make their position more difficult”.
Hayward said: “It just means the numbers [of losses] will be larger and therefore there will be more places for people to point at when they want to cause difficulties for Keir Starmer as leader.”
Laura Lock, deputy chief executive of the Association of Electoral Administrators, said “we are confident” the elections could run normally as they had kept bookings for polling stations and count venues.
There is some concern about being behind on supporting candidates and agents to ensure they have support they need, and pressure on ensuring polling stations are staffed.
Lock said “They [councils] are playing catch up, but they are confident they can make up the time they have lost.”
Care Minister Stephen Kinnock said the Government had received legal advice about its original plan to postpone the votes which initially “said that we could do so”, but that the advice had now changed.
The Government did not deny reports that an article by Reed for the Times in which he said the public would support delaying elections pending council reorganisations, before any postponements were approved, contributed to lawyers advising that ministers would lose in court if they fought Reform’s judicial review.
Reed had previously approved proposals to push back the votes until 2027 to help deliver a major reorganisation of local government, prompting political opponents to accuse Labour of “running scared” amid a slump in its poll ratings.
As part of the U-turn, the Government has agreed to pay Reform UK’s legal costs, which Farage said would run to about £100,000. It has also pledged £63m to help the local authorities prepare for the elections.
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