Coronation bank holiday faces local elections clash in Englandon October 15, 2022 at 12:00 am

Election officials have warned about a clash with next year’s local elections on 4 May if a bank holiday is added to the coronation weekend.

The coronation of King Charles III will be on Saturday 6 May.

But there are concerns that if Friday 5 May becomes a bank holiday, that will fall on the day planned for counting votes from local elections in England.

The Association of Electoral Administrators has asked the government for clarification.

Peter Stanyon, the organisation’s chief executive, said a bank holiday switched to 5 May would “directly affect the election timetable”.

This would include difficulties for election staffing, including volunteers, if the day set aside for counting votes was turned into a bank holiday.

“A lot of the staff involved in the elections will also be involved in the ceremonial events alongside the coronation,” he said.

“It makes it more difficult,” said Mr Stanyon, calling for early information from the government – and suggesting a bank holiday on Monday 8 May would be less problematic.

But the government department responsible for bank holidays – the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy – said on Friday no decision had been made: “Plans are being considered carefully and we will update in due course.”

Earlier this week, Downing Street said about an extra bank holiday: “All options remain on the table.”

The date of a monarch’s coronation is “generally determined by the Cabinet and the Royal Household”, according to the House of Commons library. The coronation to be held in Westminster Abbey is a state occasion funded by the government.

The choice of 6 May places King Charles’s coronation in the same week as local government elections, which will be the first big electoral test for Liz Truss’s government since she became prime minister.

These are also expected to be the first elections where voters will have to show photo ID.

Election administrators expect this new requirement to be another challenge for staff working on elections – but their particular concern is about an extra bank holiday on the eve of the coronation, such as moving the existing one from 1 May.

This happened for the VE commemorative weekend in May 2020, with the bank holiday being moved to the Friday to create a long weekend.

The polling booths on 4 May will see votes for a range of council elections in England, including unitary authorities, metropolitan boroughs, district councils and parish councils.

Local elections are seen as more intensive to administer than general elections, with many more seats to be decided, multi-member ballots and large numbers of candidates.

A spokeswoman for the Electoral Commission said they were “working to understand the impact of the timing of the coronation on the May elections. We await further detail on any potential changes to the bank holiday”.