Confusion reigns over whether or not London’s mayoral election will take place on 6 May as scheduled.
The election, which was delayed by a year from the same day in 2020 due to the coronavirus, is one of a more than 140 local elections still slated despite further lockdown restrictions across the UK.
However, despite the Cabinet Office confirming the elections will go ahead, and Boris Johnson telling MPs that the date was set in law, there remain doubts with the date remaining ‘under review’.
The news comes as it looks likely that Manchester’s mayoral elections will be pushed back to the summer or even the autumn, as the region’s ten council leaders met yesterday to discuss the issue.
The County Councils Network has called for clarity over the elections with their chair David Williams telling the BBC that a swift Government decision was needed.
Current lockdown restrictions are in place until 31 March, with no clear timeline in sight for a complete removal of local restrictions.
London was already in Tier 4, the highest of the four-tier system before the national lockdown was announced on Monday.
Short term measures could be put in place to aid postal voting, however the Government has ruled out a postal-only vote.
London’s mayor Sadiq Khan, who was up for re-election last year but was asked to stay on due to the delay, faces opposition from Shaun Bailey of the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats’ Luisa Porritt.
You can read more about the candidates for the 2021 London mayoral election here.
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Yet the elections took place in America ??.