Police called as councillors vote to shelve elections

"Redditch Borough Council has voted in favour of postponing local elections in May, after a heated meeting in which police were called. The Labour leadership has said the move will save taxpayers 192,000, and will now formally write to central government to make the request. It comes after ministers offered local authorities the opportunity to delay elections in order to support the timetable for local government reorganisation."

"About 50 protesters turned up at an extraordinary meeting, with one member of the public being ejected after an angry row with a councillor. From 2028, every district council in Worcestershire will be dissolved, and replaced by either one unitary authority for the county, or two, covering the north and south. Redditch was the only council in Worcestershire due to hold elections in May, with nine of the authority's 27 seats up for grabs."

"During the meeting councillors were repeatedly heckled, with cries of "shame on you" and "this is no democracy" as the vote went through. Labour councillor Ian Woodhall got into a row with one member of the public earlier in the meeting, and ended up calling him a "Nazi", resulting in the meeting being held up for almost 30 minutes to restore calm. In the end both Woodhall and the protester left the meeting early after police were called on safety grounds."

Redditch Borough Council voted to request postponement of May local elections and will formally ask central government for approval, with projected savings of £192,000. The postponement option followed ministerial offers to delay polls to aid the timetable for Worcestershire local government reorganisation. From 2028 every district council in Worcestershire will be dissolved and replaced by either a single county unitary or two unitary authorities covering north and south. About 50 protesters attended an extraordinary meeting, with one member of the public ejected after an angry row. Councillors were heckled, a councillor called a protester a "Nazi", and police were called for safety. The Conservative group opposed the pause, raising concerns about democracy, public confidence and transparency.

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