A growing group of residents are refusing to pay council tax in protest over cancelled local elections.
The protesters say they will stop paying the domestic household tax until they are able to vote for their local council leaders.
David Elliott, 84, a great-grandfather of five, from Norfolk, told the Telegraph: “I object to the idea of an unelected group of people taking my hard-earned pension.
“It is just totally undemocratic.”
Mr Elliott forms a small, but growing group who are boycotting council tax bills, considering the cancellation of local elections as a failure to carry out democracy.
Those who fail to pay council tax risk legal action and possibly prison time.
This May will mark the second consecutive time Norfolk County Council has cancelled a scheduled election.
In other parts of the country, councils similar to Norfolk county council are postponing elections, citing cost and unnecessary as the reason, given they are going through reorganisations.
Labour has confirmed 29 council elections will be postponed in May.
This came after ministers asked 63 councils in England if they wanted to delay their elections until 2027, for ease whilst they go through reorganisations.
The remaining 34 councils also going through reorganisation will still hold local elections in May, meaning the majority go ahead as planned.
Critics have accused the Government of trying to avoid a local election wipe-out in May, with Labour councillors expected to lose out significantly, to be replaced by Reform.
A great-grandfather in Norfolk is withholding council tax payments whilst local authority elections are postponed | PA
Norfolk county council have cancelled its May election, along with 28 other local authorities across England
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PAMr Elliott told the Telegraph: “I’ve voted Tory all my life, but I’ve become sadly disillusioned with the dysfunctional Tory party of the previous months and years, so really I’m a ‘floating voter’.
“Although my inclination is strongly towards Reform UK, to be frank.”
The pensioner, from Watton in Norfolk, worked in the electronics industry before retiring, has cancelled his direct debit payments for council tax and is yet to receive any reminders from Norfolk County Council.
Mr Elliott anticipates reminders from the council and has planned to explain to them he is withholding his council tax until he can “pay an elected council”.
The great-grandfather stressed he would tell the council he is “withholding” and not “refusing” to pay.
He is saving the amount of council tax he would normally pay, to ensure he can pay the full amount of missed payments once an election is held.
The reorganisation of the 68 councils is to turn them into unitary local governments, meaning all services will be provided by one authority.
Such a move means services will be split between the county council and district/borough councils.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has said streamlining councils will “eliminate confusion and duplication” to allow more cash to be spent on “things the public want”.
