HARLOW Reform has welcomed the fact that local elections in Harlow will now take place in May.

A Harlow Reform spokesperson said: “We are delighted that the impending court proceedings brought by Reform UK have seen the Prime Minister of this cruel and authoritarian Labour government perform yet another U-turn.

This is a victory for the people of Harlow whose district vote in May had been taken away from them by the connivance of the Labour Government and Conservative Leader of the Council, Cllr Dan Swords. The Government, who sought to cancel elections on the grounds of the flagging Local Government Reorganisation (LGR), were forced into today’s climbdown by a combination of criticism by the Electoral Commission last month and Reform UK’s legal challenge.

It is also a victory over the Conservative-led district council that has used the LGR as a fig-leaf for taking away resident’s right to vote and, at the same time, saying that their ‘Rebuilding Harlow’ policy trumped the electorate’s right to vote. In other words, the Conservatives considered themselves too busy to allow things like elections.

The U-turn now forces that election upon an unwilling Council giving Harlow residents a real choice at last, between the more-of-the-same Con/Lab parties, the unhinged Green Party and Reform UK, which will put long-term Harlow residents front and centre in all considerations.

“We now relish the opportunity to take on the tired old parties in elections that would not have been allowed without Reform UK fighting for voters’ rights!”