LOCAL Lib Dems have slammed the Government for agreeing to delay the Cheshire and Warrington Mayoral Election for a year without any consultation.
It follows a call from the leaders of Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Warrington Borough Council to defer for a year, to allow more time to put the right foundations in place for an elected Mayor.
Liberal Democrat councillor Graham Gowland has condemned the Government’s decision to delay the first Cheshire and Warrington Mayoral Election from May 2026 to May 2027—without any consultation with elected councillors or opposition groups.
The change was quietly confirmed in a press release issued by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on 17 July 2025, which stated:
“Cheshire and Warrington’s first Mayoral election will take place in May 2027.”
📄 Full announcement: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/full-steam-ahead-for-devolution-priority-programme
Slamming the decision, Cllr Gowland said:“It is absolutely unacceptable that this major democratic decision was made behind closed doors, with no consultation with elected councillors, no engagement with opposition groups, and no public transparency. As someone actively involved in Warrington’s local politics—and potentially seeking the Liberal Democrat mayoral nomination—I found out about this decision from a Government press release. That’s not how open democracy should work.
“While I agree that the new Combined Authority must be carefully prepared, delaying the election by a full year raises serious questions. The stated reason—aligning with local elections—is misleading. In Warrington, our next scheduled local elections aren’t until 2028, meaning this would still be a stand-alone contest here in 2027. So who exactly benefits from this delay?
“More concerning is the possibility that we now lose a full year of access to devolution funding—money that could be invested in vital transport, infrastructure and skills projects starting from June 2026. Residents should not pay the price for a politically convenient delay.”
Cllr Mark Browne, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group on Warrington Borough Council and member of the Devolution Committee, added: “As Leader of the Opposition and a member of the Devolution Committee, I was neither informed nor consulted about this delay. I strongly suspect the same is true for most Labour backbenchers too. For such a significant constitutional change, this process has lacked even basic transparency.
“I also want answers on the cost of the delayed election. We were told the mayoral election would be funded by central government. Has that changed? Will Warrington—which has no other elections in 2027—be expected to foot the bill for a stand-alone election? And why wasn’t this openly debated in full council?”
Cllr Gowland concluded:“If the aim is genuinely to boost turnout and democratic legitimacy, let’s talk about real reform. Warrington could return to elections by thirds, offering more frequent engagement. And we should seriously consider using the Single Transferable Vote (STV) system for the mayoral election, so the winning candidate commands genuine majority support across our diverse region.
“Right now, it feels like a backroom deal has been struck—one that delays accountability and undermines confidence. I’ll be demanding full clarity on how this decision was made, and why the voices of councillors, communities and opposition groups were ignored.”
2 Comments
The whole idea should be abandoned altogether.
2 out of the 3 councils have serious financial problems
The 3rd isn’t too far behind .
The three councils are not merging and will continue to exist, along with their debts!
Certain functions previously performed by Central Government and the old LEPs are combined under the new strategic authority as well as those agreed by the authority and the Secretary of State. There are details in the LGA site here: https://www.local.gov.uk/parliament/briefings-and-responses/english-devolution-and-community-empowerment-bill-lga-policy
The details of the powers to be transferred need to be agreed and doing so is the reason for the delay. It puts Cheshire and Warrington on a par with Greater Manchester and Merseyside with the latter two having a duty to co-operate with Cheshire. That gives a great potential improvement on Public Transport and Fares as one important example. There should be better co-ordination on Major planning and transport projects which was previously done by the LEP.