The government’s plans to merge smaller council authorities into larger ones ahead of next year’s local elections have been paused amid gerrymandering claims, with those elections now set to take place under existing boundaries. 14 areas up for reorganisation have been put on hold pending a legal review, with proposals in Essex, Hampshire, Norfolk and Suffolk scrapped entirely…
Angela Rayner is set to confirm the decision in the Commons later:
“…In light of legal advice, I want to satisfy myself firstly that the right process is in place, that it is robust, and of course complies with the law”.
“And secondly, I want to fully test whether our proposals for local government reorganisation meet the priorities of a new administration and a new prime minister and any additional considerations”
Reform is taking credit for the move, with Nigel Farage saying this afternoon:
“Reform UK not only argued that this government’s plans for local government reorganisation were an unmitigated disaster, but we once again put our money where our mouth is.
“Earlier this year we took on the government and forced them to give the vote back to millions of people after Labour tried to cancel democracy. Now, thanks to our judicial reviews in affected Reform-led councils, the government has backed down on their plans yet again.”
A significant U-turn…
Former Treasury minister and adviser to Burnham in the Makerfield campaign Lord Jim O’Neill, who has turned down a role in his government, said Burnham’s first statement Commons was:
“The last thing investors wanted to hear… gilt yields have risen by a 0.25% in one day, which is a lot. We’ve not had that since Liz Truss days… If your country is under the focus of ‘can they come up with a sensible fiscal strategy’ on a day when the markets think ‘well no, you’re not showing any sign of it’ you’re going to have a tough day…if it stays like this your mortgage rate is going up.”