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A Norfolk council leader has accused the government of “bullying” her local authority into postponing elections in return for extra funding and powers, as she pulled out of long-awaited devolution deal for the county.
Kay Mason Billig, the Conservative leader of Norfolk county council, said she would no longer take part in local government reorganisation (LGR) or devolution plans in the area, saying the council could not participate in that and simultaneously hold elections.
Her announcement came after the government scrapped plans to postpone local elections at 30 councils in England undergoing reorganisation, in the face of a legal challenge from Reform UK.
There are concerns the election U-turn, which will see officials scrambling to organise ballots in time for polling day in May, could throw plans for the biggest council shake-up in 50 years into disarray.
“Words fail me for describing the mess the government have created with their election hokey cokey,” Billig said. “As a result, devolution and LGR are off. We cannot consent to the new statutory instrument that is necessary to set up our mayoral county combined authority in the months before our elections. So that’s it.
“The contract is broken. The Conservative group is resolved that we will not be assisting this government to deliver LGR.”
There are concerns that other council leaders could follow suit. Daniel Elmer, leader of South Norfolk council, said: “We were sold LGR as a mechanism for us to receive more money and powers locally. So far, that has not materialised and I am therefore not sure that we should be spending more of our taxpayers money on this.”
Billig called the local government secretary, Steve Reed, a “two-faced bully” who had forced the council to agree not to ask for local elections to go ahead, in return for being given access to the government’s devolution priority programme. Mellig added that she had never met or spoken to Reed.
A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson said Billig’s claims were untrue. “Norfolk’s place on the devolution priority programme has never been contingent on the timing of local authority elections and we remain committed to working with all local partners on mayoral devolution in Norfolk and Suffolk,” they said.
Norfolk and Suffolk was one of six areas chosen for the government’s devolution priority programme to speed up mayoral elections – they were originally due to elect mayors in 2026, but this was delayed. Devolution is happening separately to LGR, under which two-tier councils across the country will be merged into fewer unitary authorities.
As well as the concerns about the political impact of the postponed elections, some Labour MPs are also sceptical about the wider idea of reorganising councils, disputing the idea it will save money and warning that many of the new unitary authorities risk feeling too large and remote for many voters.
One backbencher said: “I just don’t get why you would do something as complex and risky as this in a first term. It’s a second-term project, at best.” Some other Labour MPs, however, are supportive, saying the current two-tier system is confusing.
Nigel Farage said Reed should step down over the election fiasco, while the Conservatives demanded he quit if he was “unable or unwilling” to answer questions about his “personal propriety as a minister” raised by the handling of the decision.
The care minister, Stephen Kinnock, defended Reed, saying he was “doing an excellent job”. He said the situation was not “ideal” but the government wanted to work within the rule of law.
