Labour running scared over mayor reform, says Tory

Labour are "running scared" after revealing that elections for newly-created mayors will be postponed, a prominent Conservative candidate has said.

Elections were due to take place for Greater Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk in May but the government says these will be pushed back until 2028.

Louise McKinlay, the Conservative candidate for Greater Essex, said the decision "strips our country" of investment. Other candidates for the main parties in the region have criticised the move.

Devolution Minister Miatta Fahnbulleh said she wanted the local government reorganisation process to be completed before the mayoral elections.

The mayoral elections for Hampshire and the Solent, and Sussex and Brighton, are also due to be postponed.

In a statement, McKinlay said: "Delaying the Greater Essex mayoral election until 2028 strips our country of the leadership, growth and investment a mayor would bring - all because Starmer is putting party before country.

"This is the biggest change to local government since the 1970s and Labour's approach has been chaotic from day one: Rushed deadlines, last-minute decisions, and now this."

She called on Labour to reverse the decision and said "our residents deserve better".

Tom Walker, a director at Essex County Council, has already been appointed as interim chief executive for the Greater Essex combined authority.

Caroline Topping, the Green candidate for Suffolk and Norfolk, pointed out that staff had already been employed, leaflets produced and that campaigning had started.

"Why hasn't someone from government contacted the candidates and told us? It's a joke," she said.

"It's very disheartening for all the people being employed and the hours of work that's gone in but we do need these powers devolved from Westminster to the local population, so we can make decisions for ourselves rather than have things like this happen to us."

The Liberal Democrat candidate in Suffolk and Norfolk, Kevin Keable, suspected Labour were "scared" that his party or Reform UK would win the elections.

"When you look at local election results that was the likely choice and they didn't want to hand over power. Which is really disappointing," he said.

"This role isn't a civic role, it's a real job It's about creating new jobs and helping the economy grow."

David Bick, the Reform candidate for Suffolk and Norfolk, said he was not surprised.

"I reached the view some months ago that this government will stoop to anything to retain power and avoid electoral defeat," he said.

"The whole basis for cancelling these elections is completely phoney."

Labour's candidate in the same region, Carli Harper, rejected claims the government was "running scared".

She said: "I don't buy that at all. I can't speak for other places in the country but I think in Norfolk and Suffolk we're campaigning on a really positive, ambitious agenda and we're enjoying strong levels of support."

Delivering the new mayoral authorities at the same time as new local authorities had felt "quite ambitious" and she was disappointed but not surprised at the proposals, she added.

With the role of mayor responsible for driving economic growth, business leaders reacted with disappointment to the news.

Nova Fairbank, chief executive of Norfolk Chambers of Commerce, said companies needed "certainty and clarity to make investment decisions".

"Having this 'will-they, won't-they, maybe tomorrow, maybe next week, maybe in a couple of years' is really unhelpful," she said.

Her counterpart in Suffolk, John Dugmore, said firms were already facing a "heady mix of economic challenges" and he was concerned about "the lost opportunities over the next two years, at least".

Meanwhile, Southend-on-Sea City Council's Labour leader Daniel Cowan said: "We accept the government's desire to slow that part of the programme down to make sure devolution is delivered in the right way."

As part of its announcement earlier, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government announced that all six areas affected would get an additional £1m in the coming months to help establish the mayoral authorities.

Fahnbulleh told the House of Commons: "It is absolutely right we take stock of where we are and the process we're asking places to get through to ensure that at the end of this we have strong unitary councils."

There has been fury within local government, where officials have been focused on meeting deadlines and preparing for a new way of running local services - as Andrew Sinclair explains.

Sinclair, BBC East's political editor, said one candidate texted him: "What on earth is this government up to... I am absolutely flabbergasted, their incompetence knows no bounds."

Running alongside the plans to create a mayor, but on a different timetable, was a local government reorganisation which would see county and district councils replaced by unitary authorities.

Sinclair says council officials have complained of not having time to fully focus on their "real job of delivering local services to real people" alongside creating the new mayoralties and councils.

The announcement has made it clear delaying the elections is a proposal, something Sinclair says is worth noting.

"This gives it wriggle room if the outcry becomes too much," he said.

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