THURROCK Council is poised to make a decision on whether to ask the government to cancel May 2025's planned 'all-in' elections.

There were not supposed to be elections in the borough in the coming year but as part of its remit to reorganise the council in the wake of its financial collapse and intervention from central government, the authority was ordered to arrange elections in all wards, for all councillors, in a bid to establish some continuity.

At present councillors are elected in 'thirds', meaning there are elections in three of every four years and the political balance of the council can change with a degree of frequency that brings instability and creates difficulty in long term planning.

The new elections in May 2025 were also planned to coincide with new boundary changes and a shake up of ward structure across the borough. Final plans by the Coundary Commission for Thurrock were announced early in December. They are currently out for further consultation and it is going to be a rush job to get everything completed in time for 1 May, when the elctions are scheduled.

However, in a new white paper published earlier this month, the new Labour government announced a programme of devolution in local administration – meaning a significant shake-up in the way governance at local level works.

It seems likely that Thurrock Council will be merged with at least one other neighbouring authority – or several. And above that tier of government, a new 'Mayor' for Essex will take control of issues like planning and strategic development.

That has caused considerable uncertainty and concern that an election in May in Thurrock would be pointless as the council might not exist within one or two years of them. Many of the incumbent councillors still have years left on the time for which they were elected in years 2022, 23 and in May this year.

So Jim McMahon, minister for Local Government and English Devolution says he is willing to listen to requests from councils due to have elections in May, for them to be cancelled.

On Tuesday, (7 January) two meetings will be held at Thurrock Civic Offices where the possibility of cancellation will be discussed.

The first is a meeting of the General Services Committee at 5pm, where members will consider the implications of devolution, the minister's invitation to ask for a cancellation and matters surrounding future administration of the council.

It is being invited to recommend to 'commit to the Government's Priority Programme for Devolution, enabling the council to focus on working with neighbouring authorities to develop the devolved strategic authority alongside local government reorganisation and to agree that as a consequence of participation in the Government Devolution Priority Programme the Leader and Chief Executive approve a letter to the Secretary of State asking to postpone local elections to be held on 1 May 2025'.

The recommendations of the committee will then be discussed by the Cabinet, which meets at 7pm, with the expected outcome that a message will be sent to the government for cancellations of May's poll.

The move to cancel elections in May has been criticicised by the council's one Reform Party member, Cllr Alex Anderson who said: " I look forward to hearing John Kent make clear to Government in no uncertain terms that we in Thurrock will not accept being denied a vote in May."

In response at the time, Cllr Kent said: "It is too early to be certain of what might lay ahead, but if Thurrock Council to be subsumed into a new, larger authority, it would seem pointless to waste vast sums of money holding elections to a council that may no longer exist within a year or so of those elections."