Bid to reverse postponement of local elections defeated in the Lords
In a rare move, two so-called fatal motions were proposed by the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party in the upper chamber.
Efforts to reverse the suspension of local elections in England have been defeated in the House of Lords.
Nine councils have had their elections delayed by one year while the Government reorganises local government.
In a rare move, two so-called fatal motions were proposed by the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party in the upper chamber, in a bid to keep local elections scheduled for this May.
The postponement of elections was described as “anti-democratic” by the Liberal Democrats, before peers voted 63 to 163, majority 100, to defeat the party’s fatal motion.
Speaking in the chamber, local government minister Baroness Taylor of Stevenage defended the decision to delay elections, arguing it would “help to smooth the transition process” for those areas going through a process of reorganisation.
Elections have been postponed across East Sussex, West Sussex, Essex and Thurrock, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, Norfolk, Suffolk and Surrey.
