Elections in May signal strong hopes of a bright Spring ahead

EYEBROWS were raised yesterday at the news the Government wants local council and police and crime commissioner elections to go ahead this May. With case rates still high and a roadmap to reopening society still awaited, it sounded like folly to be sanctioning much of the country to go out, gather in church halls and schools and cast their votes for councillors, mayors and crime tsars.

But there is good reason to believe that with four months to go before most of us go to the polls the decision is the right one. Most heartening is the confirmation that by May all over 50s in Britain will have been offered the coronavirus vaccine. Most – we sincerely hope – will have taken it up.

Initial confusion, in what was described as a chaotic Downing Street briefing for journalists, was swiftly cleared up when No 10 insisted it would hit the target of having the top nine priority groups for vaccination given the jab by May. That dramatically reduces any risk of a spike in new cases of Covid-19 caused by people gathering to vote.

There are also promises that protective measures, from voters told to bring their own pencil, to social distancing and hand sanitisers, will render the process as safe as it can be. And there will, of course, be the option to vote by post which looks likely to be taken up by even more electors than usual, reducing numbers at the polling stations.

Few things are more important to maintain, even during a pandemic, than democracy. We have already gone the best part of a year without subjecting many of our local elected representatives to the scrutiny of the voters. When councillors and Police and Crime Commissioners, for example, should have to answer for their actions at least every four years, adding a year on – that’s a full 25% extra ‘unelected’ service – must be justified.

The risk of making a global pandemic even worse does count as justification. But, like getting children back to school and allowing people their full liberty again, re-starting the democratic process with elections must be a priority. That’s why this decision to give the go-ahead for polling to take place come May is the right one.

It is also a signal that, by early May, there is a pretty high degree of confidence in Government circles and, presumably, among advisers, that things will be a great deal better than they are now. Three measures, Covid deaths, numbers in hospital and case rates, are being closely watched before any move to loosen the restrictions is taken.

By February 22 the Prime Minister will be checking all three and – we are assured – setting out the path to end lockdown.

Boris Johnson, too often accused of an unwarranted urgency to “get back to normal” in this crisis is showing far greater caution at the moment. That is a good thing. Three lockdowns is enough for any population to bear.

Better make this a long one than bow to pressure to open up too early and be forced to U-turn.

Going to vote won’t be at the top of most people’s wish list when the shutters come up. But it is important and the fact it can happen is a sign of better things to come.