AFTER 24 hours of much political posturing, little factual information has been gleaned about the pending cancellation of mayoral elections in Essex - exclusively and nationally revealed on Thurrock Nub News yesterday evening (3 December).

The government, which will have to write new legislation to do it, says it is 'minded' to cancel the election for a new county-wide mayor, which is scheduled for 7 May next year.

There has been little clarity about what will happen to scheduled local council elections on the same day - leaving many pundits and social media commentators to decry the 'death of democracy'.

The government appears to have got itself into a massive pickle about what it wants - and how it plans to go about it, with one former Labour local government minister Jim McMahon saying: "I need to be blunt – we need to be better than this."

The Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton MP was the local government minister until earlier this year and was a strong advocate of devolution and local government reorganisation and plotted much of the path abandoned by Labour last night.

He added: "Local leaders across the political spectrum worked in good faith. They put aside self interest and differences, and they did everything asked of them to secure a better settlement for the people that they represent.

"They reasonably expected the Government to do the same."

The government says it still wants county mayors, and elections will be pushed back to 2028 once new legislation is in place – but there may yet be a bump in the road if the three unitary authorities that are taking a lead in setting up the mayoral role (Essex, Southend and Thurrock) decide to pull their support.

Devolution came about with the leaders that Mr McMahon spoke about inviting the government to make changes and they put aside some local interest to make it all happen.

If they pull voluntary support with a sense of their noses being put out of joint – the government's plans could take a lot longer than 2028 to bring to fruition. A warning about that came from Mr McMahon who has previously said all involved had a reasonable expectation that these elections would go ahead, and the Government knows that trust is hard won but is easily squandered." 

However, one government sweetener is that it has said Greater Essex is still set to get £41.5 million a year for 30 years for infrastructure improvements. And in addition to the Investment Fund, Greater Essex will receive at least £3 million from government to help set up the new combined mayoral authority.

It appears a government assumption that investment, which is somewhat less than planned for a full mayoral office, is deemed still attractive enough to keep the ruling groups at Essex, Southend and Thurrock councils on track with devolution and a mayor. Were any of those councils to withdraw support, the whole plan could tumble like a pack of cards.

However, a meeting of Thurrock Council's Corporate Overview and Scrutiny this evening saw council leader Cllr Lynn Worrall say she had a meeting with the leaders of Essex and Southend council leaders, Kevin Bentley and Daniel Cowan respectively, this morning and they were still in agreement on the principle of a mayor and the interim combined authority.

At a meeting this evening Cllr Lynn Worrall said she and Cllrs Kevin Bentley (Essex) and Dan Cowan (Southend, left) were in agreement to carry on with support for a combined authority - though they were still awaiting more information.

She said: "We are working through the implications of what this will mean for Greater Essex. Once we have some clarity from government I will bring it to the chamber.

"All leaders agreed we are still committed to devolution and securing powers locally for the people of Thurrock and Essex.

"We will still have a combined authority although it will be a much smaller team that does this work between now and 2028.

"It's not a stop, we just won't have a mayor until 2028." 

After the 'whispers in Westminster' that reached the ears of Nub News last night, in a written ministerial statement today, Local Government Secretary Steve Reed said: "Cheshire and Warrington, and Cumbria have previously requested a delay of their inaugural elections to May 2027, to align with the majority of planned local elections, which could help voter turnout and enable further local savings

"These areas have both successfully established unitary authorities.

"The Government is also minded to hold the inaugural mayoral elections for Sussex and Brighton, Hampshire and the Solent, Norfolk and Suffolk, and Greater Essex in May 2028, with areas completing the local government reorganisation process before mayors take office.

"This is because devolution is strongest when it is built on strong foundations, therefore moving forward we will ensure strong unitary structures are in place before areas take on mayoral devolution."

The government is arguing that more time is needed to reorganise local government before mayors take office, but stressed more homes, better high streets and support for business were 'all on the way'.

Kemi Badenoch said 'Democracy isn't optional', Nigel Farage called devolution 'a dog's dinner' and Keir Starmer backed the decision., saying elections would be 'at the right time'.

But the move has drawn much criticism. Conservatives and Reform UK have accused the government of trying to prevent democracy, as Labour faced the prospect of major defeat.

Reform UK has accused the government of a "blatant attempt to stop big wins" for the party, with leader Nigel Farage accusing Labour of acting like "despots, not democrats" and making a 'dog's dinner' of devolution.

He added that a two-year delay "is a deliberate dictatorial cancelling of democracy in the United Kingdom and we shouldn't tolerate it. The public don't understand what's going on."

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, a North West Essex MP, said: "This is the second time Labour have cancelled elections. Democracy isn't optional. We will oppose this every step of the way."

Labour Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was asked if the delays were effectively cancelling democracy and said: "No, there are various arrangements being put in place to ensure all the elections could take place at the right time."

What might be described as 'the elephant in the room' is what will happen now to planned local council elections scheduled for Thursday, 9 May – which were to run in tandem with the mayoral elections.

In Thurrock, all 49 councillor positions are supposed to be up for grabs, with reshaped wards as part of the government and its commissioners' attempt to build a better and more representative council in the wake of Thurrock's recent final collapse. Forecasters have predicted the election would be a very good one for Reform.

There has been little or no mention of those local elections, either from the government or local councils.

What they may be waiting for is the outcome of consultation on the proposed local government reorganisation (LGR). That is the proposal to reshape direct local governance across Essex to new unitary authorities. Thurrock Council will effectively be scrapped and merged with whatever selection of local authorities it is best suited to merge with.

The Labour leadership of Thurrock Council have promoted and championed a merger with Brentwood, Harlow and Epping councils.

If the government makes its mind up on what choices it wants after hearing from all the councils in Essex – and has had feedback from the public – it will either press the go button on scheduled elections – or could opt to cancel them because it would be pointless and expensive to elect members to an authority with a limited shelf life of less than two years.

The public consultation on Thurrock Council's proposals (and others across the county) runs until 11 January next year - though there has been speculation in some political circles that the government, having taken an early sample from the consulation, may bring forward its own decision day.

Opinion among informed sources who have been contacted by Nub News have differing opinions – some expect elections, others say there is 'no chance' of them happened. So the public and politicians remain in limbo and what has happened in the last 24 hours has only muddied the waters.

Cllr Lynn Worrall was quizzed by Tory Cllr Barry Johnson and Reform leader Cllr Alex Anderson (right).

Thurrock Reform group leader Cllr Alex Anderson was very sceptical about the government's actions.

He said: "Government says more time is needed but up until now we have been told we are all working hard and we are on track.

"What is government now seeing that we are not? Why has government taken a step back and said we need a couple more years. Why have they done this?

Cllr Worrall replied: "I'm as disappointed as everybvody else that the news came when it did but there is 155 days to get this work done.

"We would have got it done but it was always going to be hard work. Sometimes I felt we had put the cart before the horse,

"While this is disappointing I can see the thinking is to allow us to work with partners and make sure it is really successful.

"I didn't have any indication more than anyone else but I feel it is the eight decision."

In one of the few references today to local elections, Cllr Anderson decried the government, saying: "Looking back on the cancellation of last year's elections in Thurrock and what has just happened, the idea of the cancellation was to join the devolution timetable that now isn't.  It was utterly pointless, wasn't it.?"

Conservative Cllr Barry Johnson said that one benefirt of the delay was that more could be brought to Thurrock Council for discussion.

He said: "Now we know its two more years can I ask that a lot more comes back to full council", clearly referring to previous criticism of Cllr Worrall that she had driven policy through in secret. 

Cllr Worrall issued a statement on the mayoral election postponement this afternoon.

It reads: "It is obviously disappointing that ministers have decided more time is needed to organise elections for a new Mayor for Greater Essex and to deliver on this major reform to regional government.

"Much work and preparation has been done – and will continue to be done – as councils across Essex work hard to deliver on this government's agenda to devolve powers to communities.

"Along with our partners across the county, we will need to take some time to assess the impact of the decision on our work to establish a new Mayoral Strategic Authority for Essex.

"Devolving powers on economic development and growth, jobs and transport closer to the communities that need that investment is something that we have lobbied on for some time as we believe the benefits for Thurrock residents and businesses are clear. Despite this decision today, we are very much focused on achieving that goal."

Thurrock MP Jen Craft found herself walking a line between the views of former local government minister Jim McMahon (left) and current minister Steve Reed.

Thurrock MP Jen Craft also gave a statement today, saying: "Today, I sat down with the Minister for Devolution to discuss the plans for a mayor in Essex and the new investment fund for our region. 

"I know many people will have questions about why the inaugural elections for our regional mayor have been delayed.

"Devolution represents a once in a generation opportunity to improve services in Essex, with a commitment today of £40 million of yearly government funding for investment in projects like building better housing or upgrading our high streets.

"But we have to get this process right. With councils in Essex still undergoing changes, we need to ensure there are strong foundations in place to support a new regional mayor.

"In Thurrock, that means seeing through the creation of a new local authority and continuing our council's recovery, after the reckless bankruptcy of our public finances on the Tories' watch.

"I spoke with the Minister about some of the financial challenges we're facing in Thurrock, making the case again for a portion of the debt to be relieved.

"I'm determined that residents in Thurrock benefit from a stronger council and investment into our region, restoring some of the services our community lost."

Cllr Alex Anderson, leaer of the Reform group on Thurrock Council, said: "

"Last year Labour cancelled council elections up and down this country, this year they're cancelling mayoral elections instead.

"The Labour Party have U-turned on the winter fuel allowance, the two-child benefits cap, national insurance contributions, and now they U-turn on delivery of their own programme for devolution. These guys are total goofs. They're clearly making it up as they go along.

"It's time the democratic denial was knocked on the head. Both council elections and a mayoral election in Essex should take place next year."