Political opinion with Alison Bennett MP: Stop the election stitch-up

In the last month, people in Sussex have had two elections cancelled. Many residents have been in touch to express their outrage with me at this decision, and I share in their frustration. These elections should not and cannot be cancelled on a whim.

Firstly, at the start of December, the government announced that they were postponing the inaugural elections for a mayor of Sussex for two years. Then, on the last day in Parliament before the Christmas break, they also snuck out the news that they would be inviting councils who are due to have elections in May 2026 to request delays.

For us here, this has meant that Labour have asked the Conservatives, who run West Sussex County Council, whether they would like to postpone county council elections for a second year in a row. Unsurprisingly to many, the local Conservatives do not seem keen to contest this election in 2026 and have indicated that they will be seeking a delay.

To me, cancelling elections is undemocratic. What is worse, the government has once again completely gone back on their word. Just one month before this announcement, Ministers assured my Lib Dem colleague and MP for Lewes, James MacCleary, that the elections were expected to go ahead as planned.

So much time, energy and money have already gone into preparations for these elections, especially the inaugural mayoral election. In a time where people are being asked to tighten their belts and public services continue to cry out for more support, it seems irresponsible to me for the government to allow this to go to waste.

People in Mid Sussex are angry about this, and so am I. That is why last week, I presented my ‘Stop the stitch-up: no more election delays’ petition in the House of Commons, to put on record that many Mid Sussex residents find this unacceptable. People deserve to be able to exercise their right to vote, and we will keep pushing for them to be able to do so.