You may have read in the news that council areas within the devolution priority programme, which includes this one, have been written to by Government asking for their view on whether local elections should proceed in May.
While my personal view is that the elections should go ahead as planned, this is a decision I believe that needs to be collectively made. I have therefore requested for an Extraordinary Full Council meeting to be held on this very subject.
I intend to honour the will of the majority of the whole council after councillors have debated this in a public forum.
In that vote, I will personally support the option that elections should proceed, not only because elections will not obstruct the remaining work needed on devolution, but also because I believe when a term of office ends, it is time to face the voters, however one personally might feel about it.
As ever we see outrageous opportunism from the local Tories, who seem to contort their positions on elections and referendums to whichever way suits them best at any given moment.
First you have the Tory leadership nationally blaming the postponement of local elections on Labour, which isn’t strictly true. The legislation has not changed, any council led by any party who believes they have a case for postponement can submit a request to the Government. Indeed, the West Sussex Tories have already asked for a further year’s postponement on top of the previous one they asked for last year.
Some of the local Crawley Tories have broken the sound barrier in their attempts to face both ways at once on public votes. You don’t need a long memory to recall them demanding a Town Council referendum, but apparently county council elections would be too distracting.
Indeed, it is odd that the West Sussex Tories consider it unthinkable there should be elections because they and their Government were insistent that elections should proceed in 2021, despite Covid still very much being a thing and with social distancing still in force, one might have thought public safety a more compelling reason to halt elections than administrative convenience.
But, of course, the major difference then was that they enjoyed a significant polling lead. The county council’s ability to talk themselves into whichever position suits their political interests best without an ounce of shame is the one crumb of comfort I have in the Government dismantling this stale and jaded institution.
Unlike the West Sussex Tories, this vote on borough elections won’t be a decision made behind closed doors. I am a democrat and we still live in a representative democracy, this will be a free vote, at least for Labour councillors. I hope the Conservative Borough Councillors will be gjven similar freedom, but that’s up to them.
Cllr Michael Jones
Leader, Crawley Borough Council