Devon elections go ahead as fast track bid fails

Elections for all seats on Devon County Council will now go ahead later this year after an application to have them delayed was rejected.

The county council asked the government to postpone elections due across the county as part of its move towards merging with district councils under national devolution proposals.

Under national plans for local government reorganisation, Devon will merge district and county councils into new unitary authorities, which, in turn, are likely to be combined into larger strategic authorities with directly-elected mayors.

The county council had hoped to delay the May 2025 elections to deal with that reorganisation.

The government said the Devolution Priority Programme was only available to areas "where they are ready to achieve mayoral devolution at pace".

Devon County Council and Devon's two unitary councils in Plymouth and Torbay have all said they want to create a larger strategic authority with Cornwall, but councillors in Cornwall have voted against talks with their neighbouring county.

The Conservative leader of Devon County Council, James McInnes, said he was "disappointed" by the decision and would "continue to work on our proposals for local government reorganisation".

The Liberal Democrats are the main opposition on the county council and gained another member earlier in the week with the defection of Frank Biederman.

Caroline Voaden, Liberal Democrat MP for South Devon, said of the Conservatives: "It's little wonder they wanted to postpone elections this May.

"But their shameless attempt to cancel our elections has failed, and now they must explain to Devon why after years of being deemed inadequate they deserve their votes."

In January, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner told a select committee it would be "ludicrous" for councils to hold elections if they were planning to reorganise their structures.

Elections for all 60 seats on Devon County Council are now due to take place on 1 May.

There have been various proposals for the reorganisation of local government in Devon, with both Exeter and Plymouth saying they would like to form expanded unitary authorities.

Those debates and negotiations will now continue with a final decision being made by the government.

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