Title
Articles by Colin Copus
Unitarisation: What comes next?
By Steve Leach | 24 April 2026
Steve Leach and Colin Copus ask if there will be ‘a further influx of smaller unitary authorities...
Political convenience is no justification for unconstitutional local election tinkering
By Colin Copus | 02 February 2026
The Government’s decision to ‘postpone or cancel’ local elections is ‘a travesty of constitutiona...
Scrooge Says: Bah Humbug to Local Elections
By Colin Copus | 22 December 2025
Labour said nothing about LGR in its manifesto and, as well as moving to create 'huge' new unitar...
A sad day for democracy
By Colin Copus | 10 December 2025
The Government’s commitment to bringing in a mandatory code of conduct alongside new powers to su...
Dear secretary of state – part 2
By Steve Leach | 01 October 2025
As the new secretary of state Steve Reed settles into his new role, Steve Leach and Colin Copus t...
Misguided optimism on devo?
By Colin Copus | 28 August 2025
Steve Leach and Colin Copus argue that a narrative of a shift away from centralisation is buildin...
The death of local government
By Steve Leach | 25 June 2025
The Government’s commitment to authorities of around half-a-million will further decimate the cou...
A magic population number for local government is a fallacy
By Colin Copus | 10 February 2025
The Government is progressing with a centralisation agenda dividing local government into deliver...
Happy Birthday district councils
By Colin Copus | 16 December 2024
Devolution does not need wasteful, time consuming and expensive reorganisation, argue Colin Copus...
Is reorganisation inevitable or just ingrained?
By Steve Leach | 03 October 2024
It is not increases in council sizes that improve local government, and the public don’t benefit ...
- Ministers back down on forced mayors in devolution Bill
- Leeds City Council suffers huge fuel theft as Middle East conflict continues
- Devon reorganisation 'distracting' for region's emerging strategic authority, peers warn
- Cotton 'deal' would land Birmingham in the mire
- EXCLUSIVE: 'Illegal' deal to end Birmingham strike risks £200m equal pay bill
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