Boris Johnson Suspends UK Local Elections for One Year Due to Coronavirus; London Stuck With Sadiq Khan for Another Year

Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered UK local and mayor elections to be postponed for a year, from this May until May 2021, due to the expectation the Wuhan coronavirus will be peaking around that springtime.

The announcement comes as in the United States Louisiana said it will postpone the state’s presidential primary set for April 4 until June 20.

Boris Johnson, file screen image.

Excerpt via The Telegraph:

Boris Johnson has suspended the local government and mayoral elections for 12 months following guidance from the Electoral Commission.

The Prime Minister has confirmed that the polls will now not take place until May 2021, amid fears that they would have coincided with the peak of the coronavirus outbreak.

The London mayoral election will also be delayed for a year.

It comes after the Electoral Commission wrote to the Government on Thursday advising that it postpone the elections.

The watchdog said that there were “growing risks to the delivery of the polls” and that “significant numbers” of people may not be able to cast their ballots…

Excerpt from the Election Commission letter that suggested only postponing the elections until fall:

In light of the current and emerging situation around Covid-19 in the UK, I wanted to write to set out the Commission’s concerns about the real risks to the successful delivery of the scheduled 7 May 2020 elections.

We have been in close contact with a range of key stakeholders across the electoral community – including the Association of Electoral Administrators, Solace, the Greater London Returning Officer, the Wales Electoral Coordination Board, and of course your officials – to assess the risks, and to identify and take forward appropriate mitigations to enable the delivery of the elections. While this work is continuing, it has already become clear that the risks are so significant as to raise serious concerns about the polls continuing to their current timetable.

…Clearly any decisions to delay elections which are due is significant and would not normally be desirable; however, we are in unprecedented times. The risks to delivery that have been identified are such that we cannot be confident that voters will be able to participate in the polls safely and confidently, nor that campaigners and parties will be able to put their case to the electorate. We therefore call on the Government to take steps to provide early clarity to all those with an interest in the electoral process; and on the available information and position we recommend the Government now delay the 7 May polls until the autumn. In this context we are also mindful that the Chief Executives of local authorities and their staff across the country are necessarily focussed on the ongoing management of the impacts Covid-19 is having on their localities…

Shaun Bailey, Conservative Party candidate for London mayor, announced his support for the postponement, “London needs change but it’s right that the government puts public safety first and postpones the election. I’ll spend the next year working 24/7 to make Sadiq Khan a one term Mayor. I’ll continue to outline my plan for a more liveable, safer city. I’ll #MakeLondonSafe”

London needs change but it’s right that the government puts public safety first and postpones the election.

I'll spend the next year working 24/7 to make Sadiq Khan a one term Mayor.

I'll continue to outline my plan for a more liveable, safer city. I'll #MakeLondonSafe pic.twitter.com/UYuMsvX3Gg

— Shaun Bailey (@ShaunBaileyUK) March 13, 2020