the brilliantly leaping gazelle

In a recent post, I proposed the notion that the democracy practiced in this country was illusory. Now it seems it is also conditional. Conditional upon on exactly how much of a threat to the ruling party it is if it is allowed to happen. Yesterday it was revealed that the decision to cancel local elections for 30 councils was itself being cancelled. The reasons for the initial decision being made were widely speculated upon as a smokescreen to divert attention away from the real reason; large Reform gains at Labours expense. So it was only fitting that the reason offered for the cancellation of the cancellation was itself a smokescreen.

In a letter announcing this sorry state of affairs, Steve Reed, a somebody who does something badly, claimed that “[the] decision to postpone the council elections of 30 local councils due to take place in May 2026 [was taken] in the light of recent legal advice.”. That advice had nothing whatsoever to do with Reforms legal challenge to the cancellations due to start later this week. Absolutely not. Perish the thought. However, the ‘recent legal advice’ seems to have been sufficiently concerning to warrant Reforms legal costs being paid, else a court case about the costs of challenging the original cancellation was bought. Brilliant.  

If this sort of carry on had been conducted by an allotment association, one might pass it off as a mixture of petty ambition, intense rivalry and childlike obstinacy. But this was from a government who we were reliably informed before the last general election would put the adults back in the room. This wasn’t a thought that occurred to a minister one minute and the next it was submitted to the court. The original announcement can only have happened after at the vey least a few conversations and at least one meeting with senior governmental department heads to discuss it. Clearly, no-one involved in any of the meetings objected strongly enough to prevent it remaining just another stupid idea.They all saw no problems with this, and neither did the government lawyers who would’ve drafted the submission. Where was their legal advice? Did they not advise ministers that attempting to cancel the elections would in all likelihood create exactly the situation we are in? 

This all suggests that the calibre of our elected representatives and the civil servants who advise them are clearly not up to the job they are asked to do. This is not a hobby for them. They are all well paid, all have very generous pensions awaiting them and in the case of senior civil servants, a possible gong  to make their retirement all the more comfortable.  

There is of course another possible explanation. While I’m no great lover of conspiracy theories, believing cock-ups offer a far more plausible explanation in understanding things, an inept conspiracy that is allowed to run and run until it eventually becomes a cock-up, now that I can get behind. The premise rests upon the commonly accepted wisdom that senior civil servants were appalled by the result of the Brexit referendum. So advising ministers that it was legally watertight to postpone local elections for 30 councils wasn’t so much about denying nearly 5 million the vote, as more trying to stop Reforms momentum. Ministers wanted to hear this, were deaf to any complaints and concocted spurious reasons to justify it.   

One then wonders exactly how ‘recent’ the ‘recent legal advice’ that cancelled the cancellations actually was? We’ll possibly never know, or more likely when we do eventually find out, another unedifying bit of political chicanery will be distracting us. Speaking of which, the outrage that poured forth from the other opposition parties at this news might give one pause and think them all fine moral exemplars of the very highest order. Who wouldn’t, if they were faced with the exact same set of circumstances – in government with a catastrophic electoral defeat by an insurgent political party who the polls(!) are indicating will win the next general election – have done exactly the same thing.

For me though, the most delicious irony in this whole farrago was that it was a poorly executed attempt to scupper Reforms electoral chances that caused the cancellation of the cancellation in the first place That would be the same Reform who believe in democracy ever so much that they haven’t made the two recent Tory defectors to their ranks stand for re-election.