Residents will be aware from the news that the Government has decided that elections will proceed in areas that they originally had decided they would not this year, which included Crawley.
I welcome this development. As I said in my speech to the Full Council when councillors took a vote on the subject of a delay, we did not stop for Covid, when there were far stronger arguments about public health and social distancing, so we should not stop now. It is a matter of record that I spoke in favour of elections proceeding and the majority of Labour councillors voted to support that.
We have never stopped planning for elections here in Crawley so we will continue with our work and will be prepared to open our polling stations on 7th May. While I have always stated that I thought elections should go ahead, I do also welcome the news that additional £63 million funding will be given to help with council capacity while we also continue to plan for significant reform to local government, and I will expect Crawley to get its fair share of that.
It is important, however, to dispel some myths that without these elections there was going to be some kind of long term democratic deficit.
Aside from elections in May, in a year’s time, in 2027, there will be all-out elections to the new unitary council that will replace this one, not just one thirds. If the public consultation remains positive, we will also have elections to the new Crawley Town Council through the ongoing Community Governance Review. The following year, 2028, is likely to be the election for the Mayor of Sussex.
I strongly refute any suggestion that we were trying to avoid elections. I believe that most residents recognise that Crawley Borough Council is performing well. We have a successful record of delivery and a strong vision for the future as a Labour council that I am more than prepared to submit to the electorate, with confidence. Our standards are high and recognised in all of the recent external reviews and inspections that have been made of our council, of which it has felt that there has been many recently.
Now we move forward. This Labour council’s record of delivering locally for all of our residents is strong, we will be ready to take our case to the public – all I can say to that challenge is, bring it on!
Cllr Michael Jones
Leader, Crawley Labour Group