Some councils have at least shown a spine. The leaders of Essex and Hampshire County Councils have indicated that they plan to go ahead with elections.

But here in Thurrock, where I live, the Labour-led council is still weighing up its options and is unlikely to make a final decision until January. Once again, voters are left waiting while politicians quietly decide whether they want to be held to account at all.

For me, this could mean losing my opportunity to vote for a second year in a row. My local election was postponed last year. I was unhappy about it, but I accepted the claim that it was a one-off and that normal democratic accountability would return this year. That assurance now looks meaningless. Voters like me are being told to wait again.

That means two full years without the chance to pass judgment on those who govern us locally. If these delays go ahead, some councillors will end up serving seven years without facing the electorate. Seven years without accountability. Seven years where decisions are made without consent. Seven years in which politicians hide behind their office while ordinary people live with the consequences of their choices.

This is not about protecting democracy, it is about protecting careers. Starmer is sacrificing democracy to save his own job. He knows his party is weak. He knows voters are angry. He knows he is toast. Rather than face the ballot box, he is helping politicians dodge it. That is not leadership. It is cowardice. And it is a slap in the face to working people who pay council tax, follow the rules, and expect their voice to count.

Those people are the ones who lose out first. Working families depend on accountable councils to run schools, manage social care, deliver housing and maintain local services. When elections are postponed, those responsible are insulated from scrutiny. Power is protected at the top, while responsibility disappears.

Worse still, this sets a dangerous precedent. Once elections can be postponed without real necessity, there is nothing to stop it from happening again.

We were promised an Essex mayoral election this year. That was cancelled. Now the Government has refused, three times, to rule out postponing a general election, something any serious democratic government should have shut down immediately. Power is starting to look assumed rather than earned.

The excuses do not survive even basic scrutiny. “Saving money” is insulting. Every election costs money. Democracy costs money. If cost were a legitimate reason to cancel elections, we would never hold them at all.

And if this government genuinely cared about efficiency, it would not have embarked on an expensive local government reorganisation it is clearly not competent enough to deliver. So let’s be clear about what is happening. Starmer is hiding. Labour is hiding. Councils are being encouraged to hide. And voters are expected to accept it quietly.

We shouldn’t. Cancelling elections and undermining democracy should be career-ending. Anyone who asks for democracy to be delayed, and anyone who signs it off, has no place in public life.

Starmer has shown he is willing to sacrifice democracy for his own survival. He is willing to let councils run unchallenged for years. He is willing to ignore the people who work hard, pay their taxes, and expect representation. That is cowardice. It is contempt. And it should not be forgotten, forgiven, or excused.

So Sir Keir Starmer, give us back our votes, man up, and lose like an adult. Our democracy is not yours to destroy.