Cllr Alan Amos, dubbed ‘the Worcester One’ as the last Conservative city councillor, said he wanted to make opposition to postpone Worcestershire County Council May elections ‘unanimous’ following a cross-party backlash against the proposal.
The councillor, who represents Lower Wick and Pitmaston on the city council and was due to contest his county council seat for Bedwardine, backed other councillors who called for the county council elections not to be postponed over ‘devolution’ plans so leaders could submit the 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.
Cllr Amos said he fully supported the letter sent to the Government by the city council’s Group Leaders opposing the cancellation of this year’s local elections.
Cllr Amos said: “Cancelling elections should only ever be done in a dire emergency, and this is not one.
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“We even held elections in the middle of the Covid lockdown in 2021.
“Abolishing Worcester City Council with its 300-year history, together with five other district councils, should be done properly and be given sufficient time to ensure that the new authority runs smoothly and efficiently.
“The aim of restructuring should only be about providing better services for local residents, not an attempt by a few politicians facing defeat to ignore the voters to get another – and unelected – year in office.
“As a long-standing Member of the City Council, I cannot and should not remain silent whilst this act of vandalism and political self-serving is being perpetrated.”
It comes as city leaders say there has been a “fundamental breakdown in trust” with the county council.
Worcestershire County Council leader Simon Geraghty last week wrote to local government minister Jim McMahon requesting the postponement of the elections.
He wants to fast-track plans for a Worcestershire unitary authority in line with Labour’s devolution policies.
But opposition and city councillors say the proposals are rushed and at least two other letters have been sent to Mr McMahon asking him to reject the county council’s request.
Mel Allcott is leader of the Unity Group – made up of Liberal Democrat and Labour councillors – at Worcestershire County Council.
In an open letter to the minister, she said Worcestershire does not have a “clear and agreed plan” for devolution.
The group leaders on Worcester City Council have also written a joint letter to Mr McMahon setting out their opposition to the county council’s request for postponement of May’s elections.
Labour’s Lynn Denham, Green Louis Stephen and Lib Dem Karen Holmes welcomed the proposal to devolve more powers to local communities but say the elections should go ahead as planned.
Councillor Simon Geraghty, leader of Worcestershire County Council, said: “Over the last twenty-five years in Local Government, and in my time as both a District and now County Leader, I have strived to make our system of two-tier Local Government work for the benefit of the residents we serve.
“Just prior to Christmas, the Government signalled the end of two-tier governance in the English Devolution White Paper and therefore our district and county councils will be abolished. 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, and we are to face the largest change that we have seen to local government in over 50 years. We will be required to move to a unitary structure in a relatively short timescale, alongside developing devolution proposals for a Strategic Authority to ensure our residents benefit from devolution.
“It is now incumbent on us to get on with making the change at pace to seize the opportunity to shape our future and work towards a new Council to meet the needs of our area – a One Worcestershire Council. This reform is necessary to unlock further devolution for the county, in line with the Government’s longer-term ambitions.
“It is for this reason we have put in a request to Government to postpone elections scheduled for May. This will enable us to fully focus on working with partners and stakeholders to work up proposals and seek to implement this on an ambitious timescale to see a new “shadow authority” elected in May 2026 and for all our councils in Worcestershire to end in 2027.”