Exeter council weighs up delaying May elections

The prospect of scheduled elections in Exeter being postponed has prompted furore across the political spectrum.

Reaction has ranged from disappointment to the more hyperbolic claim that not holding a scheduled election would be “right out of Putin’s playbook”.

The opportunity to delay the polls due to take place in May came about thanks to an invitation sent to 64 councils by the government last year, and it is a minister who will have the final say.

Minister Alison McGovern said in her letter that a host of town halls had complained about the prospect of overseeing elections when they could be undergoing their most significant overhaul in half a century.

That big change – known officially as local government reorganisation (LGR) – will involve councils overseeing their own demise or merger with neighbours.

This major shift is happening because Westminster wants all councils in England to be unitary, meaning they are responsible for all services within their geographic boundary.

Devon is one of 21 areas in England that still operates a two-tier system, whereby Devon County Council is responsible for the likes of highways, adult social care and education, but within the same boundary, other services such as planning and refuse collection are overseen by district councils.

Plymouth and Torbay are already unitary, but one or both of those could see changes to their boundaries as part of LGR.

Political motivations

Shortly after the government’s invitation opened up the prospect of delayed elections, Plymouth confirmed its elections would go ahead.

This could be due to its steadfast belief that democracy should go ahead, or it could be the case that the likelihood of Labour losing control there is less than in Exeter.

In Plymouth, 19 seats will be contested. But Labour won’t hold all of those, so it’s likely that its 32-seat majority over the nearest rivals – the Conservatives on seven seats – will mean it will hold on to power regardless.

But across the county in Exeter, the situation is arguably more precarious.

Out of Exeter’s 39 seats, 13 will be contested.

The last time these seats were up for election was in 2022, and Labour won nine of those seats.

Changes since then mean it is defending eight of those seats this time, which, if it lost all of them, would take its current total of 22 down to 14. If those eight seats all went to the Greens – the next biggest party – they would rise from seven seats to 15.

That would be just more than Labour, but an even closer outcome could leave the council with no overall control.

Given all the Labour Exeter members on Devon County Council lost their seats in the local elections at County Hall last year, the party’s statisticians could be worried.

Wider scrutiny

The issue of whether Exeter will hold its elections or not was essentially the sole subject at a special meeting called by Devon County Council.

While the county council criticised the government for bringing forward the prospect of councils delaying elections, it expressed dismay that Exeter City Council had not immediately followed Plymouth’s lead in promising to go ahead with the poll.

There is also the factor that Devon County Council does not want Exeter to become a unitary council, because County Hall does not want to lose the city as a key economic driver and fears the impact of a so-called ‘coast and country’ unitary council that would be vast in size, with no major urban centre.

Exeter City Council’s leader, Councillor Phil Bialyk (Labour, Exwick), said the decision over whether to proceed with the elections or not was not politically driven.

“As the leader of the council, my political fortune is not a consideration,” he said.

“My role as leader is different to my party role, and I am looking at this issue as leader and what is best for the council.

“I need to listen to other councillors to get their view and will be doing that.”

Cllr Bialyk added that Exeter had seen elections postponed previously in 2010, when the city last faced the prospect of becoming a unitary council.

He added that elections were being postponed in other places in England due to local government reorganisation, and reiterated that another round of elections was due to take place in 2027 for any new councils that are created, meaning voters would have a chance to decide who runs the new councils.

Cllr Bialyk also stressed that the city council’s capacity was stretched at the moment, given it was preparing to potentially take on a raft of services currently overseen by Devon County Council.

Plymouth is already a unitary council, and so Cllr Bialyk suggested it had less to do to prepare for reorganisation, which may have partly explained why Plymouth so quickly decided to press ahead with elections there this year.

Exeter City Council will be holding a debate on the matter at a meeting next week (Tuesday 13 January).

The outcome will no doubt be closely scrutinised.