Local government policy under the Labour Government has been a slow burn – but it appears it was a long fuse leading to some explosive fireworks. Now the fizzle has died down, there are swathes of people across the country pulling out their maps and population statistics to calculate what they can get away with. 

They will need to get their skates on. If you want to postpone elections in the run-up to devolution and reorganisation, you have until just after Christmas – 10 January – to ask. And you may want to. Forget the faff and expense of holding elections for a council that won't exist, it runs a more serious risk of changing the players mid-negotiation. Not exactly helpful when you are working at breakneck speed.