Sir Keir Starmer is “acting like a dictator” by arbitrarily postponing local elections for 4.5 million people, Boris Johnson said Thursday.
The Daily Telegraph reports the former Conservative prime minister accused Labour of “avoiding public’s verdict” by pushing back ballots and cautioned left-wing Starmer would “reap the whirlwind” of his decision, adding: “You can run but you can’t hide.”
In January, the Government confirmed the postponement of elections across 30 local authorities, which had been scheduled to take place in May. In some cases, it means councillors will have kept their seats for seven years without having to face public scrutiny or answer to a ballot box verdict.
Brexit leader and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage previously eviscerated the British government for its weakness as Labour announced a previous postponement of local elections without good reason, on the same day they moved to roll out China-style facial recognition cameras, as Breitbart News reported.
For his part Farage also called Starmer a “dictator” and reasserted his claim fear of Reform is driving the prime minister’s weakness and fear of the ballot box.
Johnson said councils – which were allowed to decide for themselves whether to hold elections – should reverse those decisions and proceed with the polls.
He told he Telegraph:
What is the difference between Starmer’s Britain and Burkina Faso [where the military junta has taken over]? This is what dictators do. They come up with some pretext for postponing elections and they stifle democracy.
There is no excuse good enough for this.
The Telegraph’s Campaign for Democracy has called for elections to go ahead, as well as deleting a clause in the Local Government Act 2000 that allows polls to be delayed without a full vote in Parliament.
The former prime minister’s intervention is likely to fan the flames of a revolt against the delays as he went on to tell the outlet his thoughts on what he sees as a denial of democracy.
Johnson said: “It is plainly being done to spare Starmer’s blushes in May because he fears a defeat. It’s absolutely pathetic. It’s shameful.
“What Starmer is doing is tyrannical. People should remember that it is attempts to defy democracy that lead to the greatest anger from the public. Starmer will reap the whirlwind of this decision. What is transparent is he is running away from the people, trying to avoid the verdict of the public, and it simply won’t work. You can run but you can’t hide.
“I can only hope that councils that are currently saying they won’t have elections change their minds. There is no excuse.”
Johnson pointed out to the Telegraph that for a Government that won a landslide majority in 2024 local elections two years later should be “nothing to fear.”
He added: “It is five years since the glorious mid-term elections when we thrashed the pants off them because we had delivered the fastest vaccine rollout and Macron had a fish war with us over the Channel Islands.
“This was a high point for the Tories. Labour should have nothing to fear from these elections. It’s a measure of how bad this Government is that they are so fearful.”
Reform UK is challenging the decision in court and hopes a judicial review will force the Government to reconsider.
The matter will be heard later this month.
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