Peterborough residents were left angry and disillusioned last night after the Labour-led Cabinet at Peterborough City Council voted unanimously to tell the Government it wants next May's local elections postponed until 2027.
The decision was taken at an Extraordinary Cabinet meeting at Sand Martin House on Monday (12 January), called after the Minister for Local Government and Homelessness, Alison McGovern MP, wrote to Council Leader Cllr Shabina Qayyum in December inviting the authority to give its views on delaying the elections by a year, citing the ongoing local government reorganisation (LGR).
Despite strong objections raised in the chamber, Cllr Qayyum and her Labour, Lib Dem and Peterborough First Cabinet colleagues voted through their response recommending postponement, pointing to the cost of holding an election for councillors who would serve under two years, and the pressure on officer time as the council prepares for reorganisation. Cllr Qayyum insisted the move was not about "taking democracy away," telling the meeting: "We are simply postponing elections."
Not everyone in the room agreed. Conservative councillor John Howard, Independent councillor Mark Ormston and Green group leader Heather Skibsted all addressed Cabinet to argue that the elections should go ahead as planned. Cllr Kirsty Knight, an Independent councillor, also wrote to the Leader warning that postponing the vote "risks denying their democratic right to vote."
For residents, the practical effect is stark: unless the Government's position changes, nobody in Peterborough will have had the chance to vote in a local election since 2024 by the time any new poll is held in 2027. Three years without a say over who represents them at Sand Martin House.
The final decision now rests with the Secretary of State, who must decide whether to approve the Cabinet's request. Peterborough Conservatives believe residents, not a Labour Cabinet, should be the ones deciding who sits on their council, and will continue to make the case for the elections to go ahead as scheduled.