The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Brandon Lewis)
Elections to the European Parliament will be held in the spring of 2014 and are currently scheduled to be held on 5-8 June, unless the Council of the European Union unanimously acts to change the date. In order to accommodate the Pentecost holiday in 2014, the Council has proposed moving the date of the 2014 European parliamentary elections to 22-25 May. The European Parliament will be consulted on this amendment before the Council formally adopts a decision to change the dates, which will mean that for the United Kingdom elections to the European Parliament would be held on Thursday 22 May. Local elections are currently due to be held on Thursday 1 May. This would potentially mean two sets of elections taking place within three weeks of each other.
Given this, I am today publishing a consultation document inviting views about moving the date of the local elections from 1 May 2014. The document is available on the Government website, and I have also placed copies in the Library of the House. While we are specifically inviting the views of councils and political parties and certain other consultees listed in the document, comments from all are welcomed. The consultation ends on 13 May 2013.