Comment: We Need Change But Not the Kind Being Imposed By Labour’s ‘Devolution’

Published on: 5 May, 2025
Updated on: 7 May, 2025

By Martin Giles

“What we need is not ‘devolution’ but true decentralisation, constitutionally embedded as in other countries, with competences split among different levels of government in a permanent and uniform way across the country. Until this happens, local democracy will remain comatose.”

So wrote regular Dragon commentator David Roberts in response to Bernard Quoroll’s perceptive article: I Will Not Be Voting in the County Council Election Today.

David Roberts is entirely right. He defines the requirement nicely. That is what we need but there is about as much chance of change as Nigel Farage becoming a Lib Dem.

Political parties crave power and both parts of the Conservative-Labour duopoly that has governed this country beyond living memory have, in recent decades, increasingly resented the remnants of any power left in local authorities.

there is about as much chance of change as Nigel Farage becoming a Lib Dem”

Stripped of funding, one of the few powers left to lower-tier authorities was deciding whether to approve, or not, planning applications. But both major parties have grown increasingly frustrated with councils having the temerity to represent local opinion, sometimes at least, as opposed to the central government’s view.

Both parties have intentionally allowed an unprecedented increase in population without proper preparation or consideration. No wonder we do not have enough houses (although how many we really need is a moot point), no wonder it can take weeks to see a GP, no wonder our roads are congested and our sewage systems overloaded.

And no wonder, faced with this and other examples of government ineptitude, voters are seeking other solutions and other parties.

County Council election results May 2025 BBC

We will never know how Surrey as a whole would have voted on Thursday, but is very likely that the Conservatives and Labour parties would have lost significant support.

That is among the minority who even bother to vote.

Some of you might have participated in the management exercise where participants have a sticker attached to their foreheads, which they cannot see, with instructions such as “praise me”, “ridicule me”, “insult me”, “listen to me”, “agree with me” and “ignore me”, which others taking part must follow.

The group are then asked to discuss a topic. Quite quickly, those wearing the positive instructions, “praise me” etc, are encouraged to speak more, the others discouraged.

Our democracy is in trouble. First-past-the-post is inherently unfair…”

The person with the “ignore me” sticker soon falls silent. Why participate and offer ideas and opinions if no one listens? They might as well not be there. I think that is how a lot of voters feel.

To add insult to injury, the politicians who have ignored us then blame us for not participating.

Of course, come election time, the political parties want our votes but they don’t really want our engagement; we might point out how dumb or unrepresentative a lot of their decisions are, taken only to satisfy the small number of party members.

Our democracy is in trouble. First-past-the-post is inherently unfair but it certainly does not work when there are more than two dominant parties.

Sadly, we already have a Government with a huge Parliamentary majority secured with just a third of the popular vote. They do not have a true mandate for anything but are forcing huge changes to our local government with indecent haste and without even pretending to consult the electorate.

To compound the unfairness, Surrey, a county with no Labour MPs, where the Labour Party secured only one seat and just 11 per cent of the popular vote in the 2021 county council election, has been chosen to be in the vanguard of this Labour experiment. The county is a guinea pig and the testing is to take place with the willing co-operation of the Conservative county council.