25 signatures reached
To: The Rt Hon Angela Rayner MP, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
Let Gloucestershire decide its future
We call on the Government to reject the request from Gloucestershire County Council (GCC) Cabinet to delay the GCC elections because:
1 The delay is undemocratic because the voters’ mandate for current Councillors will have expired;
2 The decision to delay the elections should not have been made by the GCC Cabinet alone.
3 The voters of Gloucestershire should be consulted on whether Gloucestershire’s local government is to be changed and how.
Why is this important?
The Cabinet of Gloucestershire County Council (GCC) has written to the Government to ask for the County Council elections this May to be delayed.
We are not aware that the Conservative cabinet consulted anyone before taking this decision. It was not even referred to the full Council.
Elected 4 years ago in May 2021, the Conservative Party currently have a wafer thin majority on the County Council and it is highly unlikely that they would have any majority after an election this May 2025.
Postponing the County Elections will leave current councillors in power beyond their elected mandate.
If the proposed Local Government Reorganisation goes ahead, all district councils in Gloucestershire will be dissolved, and replaced by a single large unitary authority.
In the interests of greater democracy, we demand that recently elected councillors should negotiate the dramatic restructuring of local government in Gloucestershire.
