‘Super Thursday’ polls should go ahead in May, says Prime Minister

BORIS JOHNSON has resolved that English town hall elections scheduled for May 6 should go ahead as planned, in the latest signal No10 is confident coronavirus restrictions can be eased across the country by early April.

The Prime Minister decided in recent days that the “Super Thursday” polls to elect a range of councillors, mayors, London Assembly members, and police and crime commissioners in England should not be delayed, The Daily

Telegraph has learned.

It followed internal discussions between ministers and officials about whether to postpone the ballots until June, amid fears that Covid-19 restrictions could hamper candidates in the run-up to the scheduled date.

Mr Johnson had warned that the date was being “kept under review”.

The Government is understood to have calculated that lockdown measures will have eased sufficiently by Easter to allow candidates enough time to campaign before ballots are cast in May, however.

“By Good Friday [on April 2] restrictions should have started to ease, so that allows four weeks of campaign. We just have to accept it’s not perfect, but we’re in a pandemic,” a Conservative source said. “Privately what No10 has worked out is that if they keep talking about how amazing the vaccine rollout is, it doesn’t make sense why they can’t do the elections.”

A second Tory insider said: “If it’s safe to do so, it should go ahead. It’s already

been delayed by a year. It’s people’s democratic right to go to the polls.”

An ongoing Cabinet Office assessment into the coronavirus-related risks of the local elections is the only mechanism that could upend the central Government assumption that the polls will take place on May 6, it is understood.

It would only be if safety problems were identified by the assessment that a delay would now be considered.

The Electoral Commission has drawn up a raft of measures to ensure that polling stations are Covid-compliant, including the use of hand sanitiser and floor markings, as well as making face masks mandatory.

Research published by the commission yesterday morning showed that 71 per cent of people in England would feel safe voting in person when appropriate hygiene measures and social distancing are in place, while only 21 per cent said they would feel unsafe.

It suggested there may be an increase in postal votes in the town hall elections, based on attitudes when the survey was conducted in December.

A Conservative Party spokeswoman said: “We are planning for the elections in May, subject to the Government ensuring the elections can be delivered in a Covid-secure way.”