Surrey Heath MP criticises County Council leader's calls to postpone election.
Al Pinkerton MP said that the move would be "profoundly undemocratic"
The MP for Surrey Heath has criticised the leader of Surrey County Council for calling for the 2025 local elections in the county to be postponed, saying that the move would be "profoundly undemocratic."
In a statement, Al Pinkerton called for the May elections to go ahead, saying that residents "deserve the opportunity to hold the powers that be to account".
Surrey County Council leader Tim Oliver is set to write a letter to government which will call for the elections to be postponed until May 2026 to allow the council time to focus on national devolution plans to merge Surrey's local authorities.
These proposals include getting rid of the borough and district councils and having a directly elected Mayor.
In a draft version of the letter, Mr Oliver describes the current structure of local government in Surrey as "fragmented" and says that he believes "reorganisation would provide more streamlined and cost-effective services for Surrey."
That letter, along with other issues around devolution, are set to be discussed at an extraordinary council meeting on Wednesday 8th January.
In response, Mr Pinkerton said that council leaders "shouldn't escape the scrutiny of the electorate under the guise of local government reform" and has called for the elections to go ahead. He added that democratic decision making should be "at the heart of this process - not a victim of it"
Mr Pinkerton, who was elected to Parliament for the first time back in July, says that the new County Council post-election should work with district and borough councils and communities in and around Surrey to "sensibly and soberly devise the most appropriate shape, size and scale of Unitary Authorities for our county."
Mr Oliver has also released a statement welcoming potential devolution to the county,.
""Having reviewed in detail the government’s White Paper on devolution, I am proposing to write to the Minister of State to express Surrey’s ambition to embrace the opportunities presented.
"The government has set out an agenda for change, including potential reorganisation of local government, particularly in two-tier county areas like Surrey.
"I believe there is general consensus that the current structure – here and elsewhere in the country – is not the most effective.
"We owe it to Surrey’s residents to get the best devolution deal possible for our county.
"To do that in line with government expectations, councils in Surrey will need to be reshaped and reorganised, which will hopefully deliver a simpler, more efficient and effective local government system.
"Any reorganisation will be examined properly over the coming months, in collaboration with partners across the county, to deliver the very best outcome for Surrey residents and businesses."