POLiTICAL wrangling and posturing has begun ahead of a government decision on the make-up of a 'combined' authority to work with the proposed Essex Mayor's office.

Top Tories at Essex County Council, which has previously been in accord with outlined plans, now say they "cannot support the proposal for devolution in Greater Essex in its current form".

It is proposed a Greater Essex mayor would be elected and the combined authority would be set up to make key decisions on issues including transport and housing.

Now leaders on Essex County Council says they should have more voting power on this combined authority, compared with councillors from Thurrock and Southend.

The plan on the table suggests Essex would have three voting members on the combined authority, while the two unitary authorities would both have two.

Labour leaders of Thurrock and Southend support the proposed setup.

The county council argues that it represents 80% of the population of Essex and should have at least 50% of the votes.

Essex leader Kevin Bentley has written to local government minister Jim McMahon saying Westminster should ensure "ensure fairer representation".

He proposed there should be two voting members from Essex, and one each from Southend and Thurrock, with the mayor potentially having the deciding vote.

Cllr John Kent, Labour leader of Thurrock Council, said devolution "gives us the opportunity to grow the Essex economy and we cannot afford little wrangles like the niceties of voting numbers to scupper that".

That is a view shared by Daniel Cowan, Labour leader of Southend-on-Sea City Council, who said: "We have all worked together collegiately to get to this point so far.

"It's now disappointing that the county council doesn't believe we can continue in that vein."

The existing council structure in Essex is set for radical change with plans for the current 15 councils to become between three and five all-purpose unitary authorities.

A timetable for reforming local government in Essex has been set out:

• Elections for a Greater Essex mayor on 7 May 2026
• Elections for the new-look Essex councils in May 2027
• The new councils would replace the existing ones in 2028
• The mayor would be directly elected

Members of the public and institutions can comment on the devolution proposals until this Sunday (13, April).

The government in Westminster will have the final say, having considered all views.