Worcester Green Party’s City and County Councillors have reacted to the news that the May county council elections will go ahead as planned. Council Leader Simon Geraghty had written to Local Government Minister Jim McMahon requesting that the elections be cancelled this year, saying that it would enable the county council to focus on forming proposals for devolution.
The move received cross-party criticism because Councillor Geraghty had not consulted councillors and had only spoken to the county council’s Chief Executive before writing to the minister. The city council was also not informed. The Council Leader claimed that there had not been time to discuss the election postponement with councillors.
Leader of the county council’s Green and Independent Alliance Group, Councillor Matthew Jenkins, said “It’s good news that the request to postpone elections was turned down. This would have been highly undemocratic. The request strongly suggests that the Conservatives are worried about losing seats at the May elections and were trying to avoid this by taking away people’s ability to vote councillors out in May at the end of the term for which they were elected.”
“The current Conservative administration is a failed one. It has proved disastrous on social care and education for children with special needs, it has set an incredibly weak target of 2050 to reach net zero and it hasn’t even managed to take care of its own building properly. The elections present an opportunity for competent, responsive councillors to be elected, who will seek and take into account residents’ concerns about what form the new council will take. Proposals need to be beneficial to local businesses and they must ensure that climate and biodiversity are prioritised. It’s also vital that it works with the city council going forward.”