'We are not suspending democracy'
12:33, 15 Jan 2026
The leader of Exeter City Council has hit back at critics over his decision to request permission to cancel this year’s council elections.
Opposition members claimed Labour leader Phil Bialyk (Exwick) risked losing the trust of the city’s voters and was ‘suspending democracy’ by asking for the polls to be scrapped.
Exeter is one of 22 councils across the country - 19 of them run by Labour - to have asked for the suspension so far. Critics said Labour was ‘running scared’ of losing control of councils if the elections went ahead.
Among the reactions, one Facebook user wrote: “Not surprising. Turkeys don’t vote for Christmas do they?”
Another said: “They are scared they will lose their seats. Protests ought to happen. Democracy gives the people the right to vote.”
But Cllr Bialyk insisted that calling off the polls this year was the right thing to do. Not having elections in May for 13 council seats - eight of them currently held by Labour - will save the city a quarter of a million pounds.
It will also free up council officers to work on the transition to a unitary authority under the government’s local government reorganisation plans. Cllr Bialyk has now written to the government minister in charge of the reorganisation to formally request the scrapping of the 2026 elections.
There will be polls in 2027 to elect ‘shadow’ members of the new unitary council.
The decision to make the request to the minister came at the end of three hours of heated debate involving the full city council. In all, 28 members of the council spoke during the session.
At the end, 21 Labour councillors voted in favour of their leader writing to the minister. Nine opposition councillors voted against and another seven abstained.
Reports of the meeting sparked an outcry on social media, but Cllr Bialyk was adamant that the right decision had been taken.
“We are not suspending democracy,” he said. “That's not what is happening here.
“In 2027 we will all go to the polls to elect a shadow authority for Exeter and hopefully the surrounding areas, and my responsibility is to make sure our services are in good order.” He said elections had been suspended in Exeter before, most recently in 2010, due to a previous government-led reorganisation.
“People will still have councilors representing them and talking to them about day-to-day issues,” he said. “And if you were to take away the 13 councillors and discount them from any democratic process, Labour would still be the largest party in Exeter.
“So we are accountable and we will continue to be accountable. We continue to listen to people on those services that we need to deliver before we hand over to a new unitary authority.”