Council asks for 2025 elections to be postponed

Worcestershire County Council has asked ministers to postpone this year's elections, currently due to take place in May.

In a letter to the minister for local government, Worcestershire's Conservative leader Simon Geraghty said the delay would give local leaders time to submit devolution proposals "at pace".

If approved, countywide elections would be delayed until May 2026, potentially to elect councillors to a single, brand-new, unitary authority that would replace Worcestershire's seven existing councils.

The council shakeup was pitched to Worcestershire's six district council leaders before Christmas. But only one district leader openly expressed support, the BBC understands.

Elections for all 57 seats on Worcestershire County Council are due to take place on 1 May.

The call for postponement follows the publication of Labour's devolution white paper last month.

At present, Worcestershire has one county council, with responsibility for services including roads and social care, sitting above six district councils running rubbish collections, planning and housing.

However, the new Labour government has argued merging two-tier areas will streamline services, and invited council leaders to submit proposals for reorganisation by March.

Councils wanting to be fast-tracked must respond by 10 January.

"With the pace of change in mind, we are writing to ask you to exercise your ministerial powers", Mr Geraghty said, in his letter to Jim McMahon, minister of state for local government on Wednesday.

"Without the postponement of elections, there will be a significant period where plans could not progress."

If the election postponement is approved, according to the government's timescale fresh elections could be held in May 2026 for a new 'shadow' council, that would finally take over services in 2027.

"I think it is essential to emphasise this is not optional, the government could not be clearer that whether we like it or not this is happening," Mr Geraghty said.

Worcestershire County Council's request comes despite it facing a backlash from leaders over its proposal to replace the county's seven councils with a single, unitary authority.

The county's six district council leaders were pitched the idea in a private Zoom meeting before Christmas, yet only Wyre Forest District Council is understood to have openly expressed support.

"I think they are rushing into things by not calling an election or not having the county elections in May… I think that's a mistake," said Joe Baker, the Labour leader of Redditch Borough Council.

Instead of new countywide authority, he said he was exploring the possibility of forming a North Worcestershire authority with other districts.

"Democracy should always be maintained… I don't think we should be fast tracked until everybody knows what we're doing and where we're going forward," he said.

"And I think the leadership in the county council at the moment is probably clutching at straws, trying to hold on to power."

Liberal Democrat county councillor Dan Boatright-Greene said the local authority had "no mandate" for the move.

"I am not against a unitary authority but I am against a handful of people deciding the political make up of an entire county without consulting residents or elected members," he said.

Councils are also required to put forward proposals to team together to form 'strategic' authorities covering larger areas, potentially headed by a directly-elected mayor, such as the West Midlands Combined Authority.

Mr Geraghty wrote that the county council had already begun talks with potential partners for a strategic authority.

Follow BBC Hereford & Worcester on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X, and Instagram.