Exeter City Council defends 'election shambles'

The reintroduction of May elections in Exeter is "a shambles", according to political opponents of the ruling Labour party.

The government carried out a U-turn on a decision to delay elections across the country after new legal advice said cancelling elections could be unlawful.

Michael Mitchell, the leader of the Liberal Democrat group on Exeter City Council, said the situation was "a total shambles".

The Labour leader of the council, Phil Bialyk, said the decision to hold elections, which had been cancelled last month was "no bad thing".

The decision by the government was taken ahead of a hearing due to take place in the High Court on Thursday in which Reform UK planned to challenge the legality of cancelling elections.

Bialyk said: "The minister has said on reflection they would like us to continue with the elections in May.

"That's no bad thing given the number of representations that we've had about this."

When he announced in January he would be asking the government to cancel elections, Bialyk said the council needed to focus its time and resources on preparing for the abolition of Exeter City Council.

He said: "A lot of people have been upset by the postponement, but the government have now found the money to alleviate concerns about resources, so everyone will now get the chance to have their say in May."

There will be elections in 13 of the 39 seats on the city council.

Labour currently hold 22 seats and will be defending eight seats on 7 May.

Mitchell said: "We welcome elections - all politicians welcome elections.

"We are not the masters, we are the servants of the electorate and this gives an opportunity for the people of Exeter to remove sufficient Labour councillors from Exeter City Council to ensure Labour are no longer the administration of this city."

Green Party leader Diana Moore said Labour was "in charge of chaos" and there would be a feeling of "shock" among the Labour leadership in Exeter.

She said: "Exeter City Council still has two years to run and so it's really important that communities have a say on who runs their council."

The BBC has attempted to contact Reform UK representatives in Exeter.

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