Will the county’s electorate be expected to sit back and repent at leisure?
One of the most significant Posts we have ever written
As we and many others predicted yesterday, including Waverley and many borough and district councils, Surrey did it! Its Leader Tim Oliver, has called on the Government to support his bid to be in the first tranche of devolution. If the government agrees, the county elections will be cancelled in May.
In other words, the county council, which is well on the way to going broke, wants to be in the first wave of areas chosen.
Yes, folks, ‘Your Waverley’ could find itself along with the other borough and district councils swallowed up in a power grab as early as March. That is when Emperor Oliver wants to put a draft business case to the Government. Yes, this March! In less than two months! Faster than highways can fill a dangerous pothole.
So, a council that has failed its road and pavement users for years, failed many thousands of SEN (Special Educational Needs) children and their families and has also watched its older people denied social care. Embarking on a series of catastrophic property investment decisions like Brightwell in Farnham, it is now set to carve up the county and finally set Leader Oliver on to his Game of Thrones.
By proposing cancelling the county council elections in a few months, he has thwarted a bid by other parties, including the Liberal Democrats, to end the council’s long-held Tory dominance of Surrey.
The Full Council and the Cabinet finally granted Tim Oliver’s long-held ambition to rule. He has long lusted after a behemoth unitary authority with an elected Mayor.
After the decision, he said,
“Having reviewed in detail the Government’s White Paper on devolution, we will be writing to The Minister of State to outline Surrey’s ambition to participate.
We owe it to Surrey’s residents to get our county’s best devolution deal possible. I have always been an advocate of further devolution from Westminster and Whitehall to local regions and communities.”
To do that in line with government expectations, councils in Surrey will need to be reshaped and reorganised, which will hopefully deliver a simpler, more efficient and effective local government system across the county.
At this stage we have not set out any preferred unitary Mayoral authority footprint. Any reorganisation will be examined properly over the coming months, in collaboration with partners, to deliver the very best outcome for our residents and businesses.”
If the government grants Surrey its priority programme, it will likely postpone this May election in order for the detailed work on reorganisation and devolution to take place, with elections or any new unitary council or councils to be held in 2026 and Mayoral elections in 2027.
Here’s one comment from one of our WW followers yesterday:
Fully support Waverley in opposing SCC Tim Oliver from cancelling the May elections. He and others in the SCC cabinet want to cancel the elections because they are frightened of being booted out by the residents. Any change in the reorganisation of local government MUST be for the benefit of ALL local residents. Waverley residents must not lose out either through asset stripping or through increased taxes to bail out the failing Surrey County Council and other Borough & District councils
Tim Oliver is doing what he wants as usual he was no different when he was a Borough Councillor in Elmbridge but there he was voted out before he could implement his disastrous plans for Elmbridge. He is now leader of Surrey County Council and yes as reported in the Waverley WEB it’s practically broke. Tim Oliver doesn’t care about local residents especially this far south of his Weybridge home. Democracy is irrelevant and if by getting local elections cancelled means him and his friends get to stay in power he will do everything that he can legally get away with. We all need to support our local Councillors in trying to put a stop to this along with letters to Mr J Hunt MP and fill his in tray so much that perhaps he will realise the strength of feeling from local residents in not being able to vote in May’s local elections and that Tim Oliver must not cancel the Local Elections in May. It might also be worth sending letters of protest to the Electoral Commission stating that Tim Oliver is out to prevent local residents from their democratic rights to vote and possibly eject Tim Oliver from office
The Waverley Web wholeheartedly agrees with the sentiments you have expressed. We will do everything we can to support democracy in our county.
Cllr Oliver’s attempt to deny us the right to vote for change has, so far, been thwarted. Perhaps a petition to the Government? All ideas are welcome, and we pledge to do our bit.
https://www.change.org/p/let-surrey-residents-vote-in-may-2025?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR2wrf-d-uP74zJoRaWFv2x2lRnaXettdNUorIyi9lRWfbcPeDtAmhkodnw_aem_GKXwCDf9nHY9XMZulew17Q
Councillors were elected for a 4 year term after that period they have no democratic mandate. The critical change necessary for the financially fatally flawed governments at national and local level is that they act prudently within their zone of competence and recognise that democracy is a fundamental right sustained by the rule of law.
Surrey Councils for over 30 years have neither delivered a good deal from central government nor governed with prudence. Billions lost by local government due to grossly negligent property speculation prove central governments’ irrational delegation to local government is often fatally flawed and sustained by the self-interest of too many politicians.
I totally agree.
Brian states that democracy is a fundamental right sustained in law, which of course is correct
The law states that County Councils must go to the ballot box every 4 years. But if that doesn’t suit him, all the Government Minister does is change the law (as he has stated he will do already) Does that not remind you dictatorships, we collectively point our fingers at?
I know how many fingers I hold up in support of the Minister
Do you know something WW ? There are times I lose THE WILL TO LIVE and this is one of them. This is one of the biggest Democratic Changes to our Local Governement systems and no-one knows about it except those that look at sites like this – Even the BBC phrase it like the Governement are offering us (the Voting Fodder) more say in Local Government – It is Shambolic – and unless it is stopped it will be the YOUNG that will pay – I shall simply shut my gates and Ignore the whole Fekking lot of them because I CAN – Because NO-ONE is LISTENING!!! Until people get off TikTok and Instagram and Look at REAL NEWS we are in an Alice and Wonderland World – Good Luck with that Kids!!!! I just hope there is someone out there that can SHARE to their Kids and make them aware of what they will have to live with