Mayor delay debated by politicians in the south

Politicians from the south have clashed over the decision to delay mayoral elections in England.

New mayors were expected to be elected in Hampshire & the Solent and three other areas in May next year, but the elections have been postponed until May 2028, leading to frustration for local candidates.

Speaking on Politics South Labour Oxford East MP Anneliese Dodds said the delay made sense so that new local authorities could be established first.

But Mid Buckinghamshire Conservative MP Greg Smith said the decision was an example of "chaos from the government", while councillor Martin Tod, the Liberal Democrat candidate for Hampshire and Solent mayor, called it a "real disappointment".

The plans are part of a simplification of local government, aimed at reducing the number of councils, by merging district and county authorities to create unitary authorities headed up by new mayors.

But the government has argued that more time is needed to reorganise local government in the areas affected.

Tod said: "The disappointment for me is really about the fact that we're not going to get the full set of devolution that we were going to get, that decisions currently being made in Whitehall were going to be made in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, and there was a large amount of funding that was going to come to the region."

Dodds told BBC South's political editor Peter Henley that it made sense to put local government reorganisation ahead of mayoral elections.

She said: "It's already been announced that there's going to be £1m unlocked really quickly to help support the development of those mayoral authorities - £3m going to each one of those areas that are going to be seeing these new mayoral systems, so this is really about pushing power down from London."

She added: "We're seeing that local government reorganisation take place, so there will be much more transparency than there is at the moment, and that's what people want to see.

"They don't want to have confusion about who's responsible for what, they want to have accountability."

But Smith argued that "they've not just pushed it back a year, they've pushed it back two years - what on Earth is the rational for that?"

Alluding to the elections that took place a year after the new unitary authority of Buckinghamshire Council was formed - due to the Covid pandemic - he said: "I know how disruptive delayed elections can be… that year created essentially a lame duck politics where no one really knew who was in charge… the net result is stuff doesn't get done.

"This is running away from democracy. Get on with it."

Steve Reed, the housing, communities and local government secretary, previously said: "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 candidates who are standing in the Hampshire and Solent election are:

Donna Jones, the current police and crime commissioner for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, is the Conservatives' candidate.

Councillor Lorna Fielker, former leader of Southampton City Council, is standing for Labour.

Martin Tod, the leader of Winchester City Council, is standing for the Liberal Democrats.

The Green party candidate is Anna Collar, an archaeologist living in Lyndhurst who works as an associate professor at the University of Southampton.

Reform UK chose Rear Admiral Dr Chris Parry as its candidate.