Labour ‘Land Grab’ – The Fight is on

As stated in the previous article, Leicestershire County Council initially opposed the city’s preferred expansion and proposed a different model with no boundary change to Leicester. Its focus was on creating a large county-based unitary authority.

Despite the leader of the County Council describing the decision to expand Leicester City as ‘a disastrous day for democracy’, after the Government made its decision in July 2026, the County Council accepted the outcome and began working jointly with the other councils to implement the changes by 2028.

However, a motion proposed by Councillor Michael Mullaney (Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group) was debated at an Extraordinary Meeting of Leicestershire County Council on 6 August 2026 and was intended to reject the Government’s decision to expand Leicester City’s boundaries as part of Local Government Reorganisation.

The motion called on the County Council to:

Condemn the Government’s decision to enlarge Leicester City at the expense of Leicestershire.
Oppose the transfer of communities from Leicestershire into the enlarged Leicester authority.

Continue to challenge the decision, including exploring all legal and constitutional options.

Seek publication of the full evidence and business case used by the Secretary of State in reaching the decision.
Work with affected parish councils, residents and MPs to resist what many councillors described as the “city land grab.”

A protest was organised at County Hall before the meeting and saw 250 people attend to express their opposition to having an overwhelming 88% of respondents to the Government consultation on the matter ignored.

After three hours of debate in the chamber the motion was overwhelmingly passed with a 45 to 1 majority.

The motion received support from across the chamber, including the Reform UK administration, Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, reflecting the broad consensus within the County Council against the Government’s decision. Only Labour opposed the motion.

It was pointed out, more than once during the debate that Prime Minister Andy Burnham declared himself a man of the people who is determined to hand decision making back to the regions and the people rather than having Westminster dictate. He promised the biggest-ever “rebalancing of power” away from Whitehall. The decision to expand the City Boundaries despite widespread opposition from politicians and the public should be brought to his attention as it is exactly the opposite. Perhaps time for him to put his money where his policies are.

The campaign to right this seemingly undemocratic decision is set to continue.

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