The leader of Lincolnshire County Council has faced criticism for alleged ‘wordplay’ after writing to the government suggesting he is open to delaying May’s elections, despite previous assurances that they would go ahead as planned.
Cllr Martin Hill, the Conservative leader of LCC, previously stated that county elections were still expected to take place on 1 May, with preparations underway for them to proceed as normal in spite of rumours to the contrary. This followed Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner’s devolution white paper outlining plans for local government reorganisation (LGR).
The changes, which could save £2 billion, aim to introduce a directly elected mayor in every region and restructure two-tier local authority areas, such as Lincolnshire, into unitary authorities with approximately 500,000 residents each under one body.
However, a letter to Mrs Rayner dated 9 January, signed by Cllr Hill and the leaders of North and North East Lincolnshire Councils, Rob Waltham and Phillip Jackson, said they were in fact “open to deferring the elections in 2025”.
They also expressed hope that their preferred proposal to create two unitary authorities for Greater Lincolnshire would gain support.
Cllr Ashley Baxter (Independent), leader of South Kesteven District Council and county councillor for Deepings West and Rural, accused the county leader of wordplay, pointing out that there had been no mention of such openness to a delay previously and claimed no discussions were had about sending such a letter. Cllr Hill says it was discussed at a recent county council group leaders meeting.

Cllr Baxter said: “There’s a little bit of wordplay going on because the county was keen to give the impression that they hadn’t asked for the elections to be delayed.
“I don’t really understand why the county and the other authorities were so coy about sending the letter. I don’t understand why they didn’t speak to the districts or other county councillors before sending the letter to see if anyone actually wants the elections to be delayed.”
Cllr Baxter insisted that, if the elections were to take place, a number of Conservative county councillors would lose their seats to independent candidates or other parties, namely Reform UK.
He added: “I think the Conservatives are particularly worried about the impact of Reform. Even if the Reform candidates don’t win, they are likely to take votes from the Conservatives under this archaic first-past-the-post voting system.
“That’s why they don’t want the county elections to go ahead.”
Cllr Richard Cleaver (Independent), who also sits on SKDC and LCC, shared Cllr Baxter’s view.
“I don’t see there being any need for the elections to be postponed, I don’t think it’s a good look,” he said.

“We still have work to do as councillors but we don’t need to be serving any more than four years.
“I am a passionate believer in local democracy and people having a well-informed say on what goes on. It doesn’t help the cause when people ask for elections to be postponed. I’m not happy with it at all.”
Cllr Hill has since explained that the upper-tier councils, who were keen to work with government officials on LGR, have responded to a call with an ‘expression of interest’. They recognised that Greater Lincolnshire currently doesn’t meet the criteria for the priority LGR programme, but that early adoption of devolution should not delay more efficient arrangements for local government.
“The government is asking councils to come forward that want to be part of the priority programme for LGR and devolution. The request is aimed at those areas that do not have a strategic authority or that need reorganisation to enable devolution. Greater Lincolnshire’s devolution deal is already confirmed with the Greater Lincolnshire Combined County Authority due to be formed imminently.
“Although we do not meet the criteria for the priority programme, we don’t feel our devolution deal should be a barrier to seeking reorganisation. In fact, we are well placed to fast-track reorganisation for Greater Lincolnshire.”
The Conservative leader also shared that it is unclear as to whether there would be any impact on the May county election if Lincolnshire is chosen as an area to take reorganisation forward.
He added: “Giving residents the chance to democratically elect representatives for their local area is an important part of how councils are run. However, if the government decided to proceed now with LGR in Lincolnshire, it may not be a sensible use of taxpayer money to run county council elections this May. This is a government decision.
“Devolution and local government reorganisation were both discussed at the recent county council group leaders meeting, where our response to the Government’s letter was discussed,” he continued, responding directly to Cllr Baxter’s criticisms.
“The Government has decided they are going to abolish county and district councils—this is not our decision—and whatever happens the district councils are still likely to run their full term. We feel it is unlikely that the county council elections will be delayed, but we wanted to be clear with the government that we are open to reorganisation at the earliest opportunity.”
Should they go ahead, the county elections would take place on 1 May, the same day as Greater Lincolnshire will elect its first-ever mayor.
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