Labour running scared over mayor reform
[Labour are "running scared" following news
that elections for newly-created mayors
will be postponed,
a prominent Conservative candidate
has said.
Elections were due to take place for
Greater Essex,
Norfolk and
Suffolk in May
but the government says these will be
pushed back until 2028.
Louise McKinlay, the Conservative candidate
for Greater Essex, said the decision
"strips our country" of investment.
A Green candidate in Suffolk said
the lack of communication was "a joke".
Devolution Minister Miatta Fahnbulleh
said she wanted the local government
reorganisation process to be completed
before the mayoral elections.
Meanwhile, Reform UK deputy leader
Richard Tice called the move a
"deliberate, dictatorial cancelling of democracy".
The Liberal Democrats said they would work
to make sure the elections still went ahead
next year.
The mayoral elections for
Hampshire and the Solent,
and Sussex and Brighton,
are also due to be postponed.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cjwyq8l6g5qo