Rugby Borough Council leadership accused of rummaging for 'excuse' to cancel elections

That was the assertion of the leader of Warwickshire County Council’s Conservative group Adrian Warwick (Fosse) as he threw down the gauntlet to the Labour leader of the borough Councillor Michael Moran (Admirals & Cawston) to put his party’s record to the test in May.

Last week’s debate over whether ballots should go ahead lasted for almost an hour with all six Labour cabinet members voting to ask the national government not to.

Rugby Borough Council is due to be abolished by April 2027 and hold limited powers from May 2027 as part of plans to create unitary councils across the country. That has led to the argument that elections are a waste of resources that may be needed to aid the transition to a new form of local government.

In Rugby, the desire to create from scratch a new town council to ensure local representation was also thrown into the mix, a problem that many parts of Warwickshire won’t have to contend with.

But with Labour unpopular in polls, rivals say they should face the music and allow the transition to be handled by those who have a mandate.

Council papers to inform the decision estimate £160,000 could be saved by not running the elections and also highlight 14 streams of extra work required to move over to the new model.

Mr Warwick noted that the money “has to be” ring-fenced for elections anyway, adding that the government’s core test of whether elections should be scrapped – whether a council has the capacity to deliver them – had not been met.

“The chief executive’s report is clear, there is the capacity,” he said.

“Preparations are well underway. Statements (in the meeting) were made muddying the waters about parishes not wanting to stay parishes, that’s their prerogative, they can set themselves up as part of the town if they wish to. I deal with many and in my opinion they are happy as they are.

“I think they are trying to overcomplicate it to provide an excuse for the elections not to go ahead. If it can be done, it should be done.”

In 2025, Warwickshire County Council’s Conservatives, in power at the time, asked for the region to be in the government’s first tranche of reorganisation and to cancel the county elections that ended up seeing them ousted from power by Reform UK.

In last week’s borough meeting, Cllr Moran said the change of heart was “galling”, claiming it “demonstrates a fast-and-loose approach”.

Cllr Warwick believes the two cannot be compared.

“There was a fairly clear strategy of going in chunks before, we are now looking at vast swathes of reorganisation,” he said before expressing concern that the reorganisation could be delayed.

“This massive project, is the government going to deliver that without slippage? I don’t believe that,” he said.

“My personal view – not that of my party – is that we could see 12 months’ slippage because of the national government’s capacity to deal with what is coming from so many counties and districts.

“The capacity issue will be greater at government level as opposed to the local authorities themselves. Looking back at what has happened in the past, they’re taking on a lot.

“My party is not running scared. We believe we are making a positive statement…(and) believe we should be out there making our case.

“If this administration (Labour) so strongly believes it is doing a good job and producing a good local plan, put it to the people and let them decide.”

That was in response to Cllr Moran listing achievements during his address, including Rugby’s emerging local plan, town centre regeneration and work to save Brandon Stadium.

He argued that no party having outright control of the borough highlighted “an apolitical opportunity for this council to demonstrate results” and that it was “absolutely wrong” to politicise the question of democracy.

“There exists a political bubble in which elections and manifestos are the be-all and end-all. They’re not, actually delivering for residents, making actual change is what is important,” said Cllr Moran.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service put to him that such belief should make him want to go to the electorate.

"It is not about fear or playing politics with elections," Cllr Moran replied.

“There is a reality, as someone new to politics, of wanting to get things done and there is such a limitation of council resources.

“Of course there is a democratic importance, no one is saying there isn’t, but it is a balance. We have to do the best we can in terms of setting up a town council and ensuring that the thousands of council homes we have are aligned. There is so much work that we have to do, it is simply a question of resources.

“Then bring on the elections. This isn’t going away.”