Swindon elections postponed due to coronavirus

By Jamie Hill - 13 March 2020

HealthPolitics

Local elections due to take place in May 2020 are to be postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Council elections due to be held on May 7 in Swindon have been postponed.

This comes after Downing Street said it would be impractical to hold local elections across England and Wales as planned, as they would come during the peak of the spread of the virus.

Polls were due in 118 English councils, including Swindon and Wiltshire, the London Assembly and for seven English regional mayors.

Voting was also due to take place for the London mayor and police and crime commissioners in England and Wales.

It comes after the Electoral Commission said on Thursday the elections should be delayed until the autumn to "mitigate" the impact of the virus.

Ten people have died with the virus, with 798 cases confirmed across the UK.

In Swindon there have been two confirmed cases, with no change since last weekend, and there are four cases in Wiltshire.

The Government will now bring forward legislation to enact the delay in England, and would work to ensure the Welsh authorities had the same powers.

The last time elections were delayed was nearly 20 years ago in 2001 during the foot and mouth outbreak.

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