Democracy Denied: The Day Essex Lost Its Voice

Today was the day on which county council elections across Essex would have taken place.

Polling stations should have opened. Campaigners would have stood outside with leaflets. Ballot papers should have been marked by hundreds of thousands of residents ready to have their say on the future of their communities.

But none of that happened.

Instead, this day - once a cornerstone of our democratic calendar - has passed in silence. And not by accident, but by design.

Essex County Council, backed by both the Conservative administration and Labour Government, chose to cancel this year’s elections. They claimed it was necessary in order to pave the way for sweeping local government reform. But in truth, this was a political decision, not a practical one. And it is a decision that the Epping Forest Independent Group (EFIG) stands utterly opposed to.

"This wasn’t a delay - it was a denial," said Cllr Lisa Morgan of EFIG. "The residents of Essex were robbed of the right to speak. Reform without consent is not devolution, it’s authoritarianism with a nicer press release."

Supporters of the cancellation point to the cost - £2.5 million - as justification. But the cost of silencing 1.5 million people is far higher. You cannot put a price on the right to vote. Nor can you put a spin on what this really is: an act of political cowardice dressed up in administrative language.

By cancelling the elections, those currently in office remain there without fresh mandate, without facing the judgement of voters, and without the accountability that democracy demands. Councillors elected in 2021 may now sit until 2028 - seven years without once returning to the public for approval. In no democracy should that be acceptable.

“This decision has torn a hole in the contract between the public and their representatives,” Cllr Morgan continued. “We were not elected to sit indefinitely. We were elected to serve, and then to face the people again. That moment has been stolen - not just from us, but from every voter in Essex.”

The justification? That Essex must now focus on creating unitary authorities and a new county mayor. But no one asked the public whether they wanted this. There has been no referendum, no formal consultation, and certainly no effort to involve communities in shaping the future of their own local governance. The top-down nature of this reorganisation - and the silence it demands in the meantime - undermines the very principle of local control.

The Government and Essex County Council’s leadership argue that cancelling elections will streamline the process and avoid “confusion.” But clarity comes from dialogue - not from denying the public a voice.

“There is nothing confusing about democracy,” said Cllr Morgan. “What’s confusing is how a government that claims to empower local areas has chosen to impose the biggest political change in decades without even asking if people want it.”

Almost 5,000 residents across Essex signed a petition calling for the elections to go ahead. Most signatures came from North Weald & Nazeing, Epping & Theydon Bois, and Chigwell. Their voices were ignored. Instead, a coalition of political convenience has formed between the county’s leadership and central government - bypassing voters in the name of expediency.

EFIG refuses to accept this as the new normal.

We stand with our communities in Epping Forest and beyond in demanding the urgent restoration of local democratic rights. We demand transparency about the plans for Essex’s future - and more importantly, we demand consent. Any major reform of this scale must be led by the people, not imposed upon them.

“Today was meant to be a day when democracy lived and breathed through every ballot box in Essex,” said Cllr Morgan. “Instead, it has become a day of silence, and that silence speaks volumes. The longer we are denied the vote, the louder our opposition will become.”

This fight is not over. EFIG will not allow democracy to be dismantled quietly. The residents of Essex deserve their say - and we will keep fighting until it is heard.