The Quiet Totalitarian Revolution: How Local Government Became the Frontline of Transformation-Part1
Remote Control: The 5-Year Campaign to End Face-to-Face Local Democracy
Introduction
While most people were trying to keep their families afloat during lockdowns, a small group of governance professionals were quietly working to ensure that remote meetings and proxy voting, introduced as temporary emergency measures, would become permanent fixtures of English local government.
This is not speculation.
It is all documented in their own words.
For five years, the Association of Democratic Services Officers (ADSO) and Lawyers in Local Government (LLG) relentlessly lobbied, litigated, and pressured Ministers to embed these changes - changes that make it easier than ever to bypass scrutiny, sideline residents, and turn local democracy into a managed Zoom performance.
This article sets out the record, in plain English, so you can see exactly what was done, by whom, and why it matters.
A Timeline of the Campaign
2019–2020:
Covid provides the pretext for emergency regulations enabling remote council meetings.
Councillors and residents are told these powers are “temporary.”
May 2021:
The emergency legal provisions expire.
ADSO and LLG launch a High Court action to keep remote meetings indefinitely.
They are supported by the Secretary of State and the Local Government Association.
2021–2024:
ADSO develops model standing orders to embed remote provisions.
They coordinate a national stakeholder group to keep pressure on Ministers.
They file Freedom of Information requests to force publication of government evidence.
They submit draft legislation to Whitehall to make remote meetings the default.
June 2025:
The Government formally announces plans to bring back remote and hybrid meetings and introduce proxy voting.
ADSO and LLG issue a triumphant statement celebrating their success.
What They Actually Said
Here are excerpts from ADSO’s own published statement (16 June 2025):
“It has taken five years of dedicated work throughout the campaign…”
“…including instituting proceedings in the High Court… providing draft legislation… and continuing to engage with Government to encourage the reintroduction of remote meetings.”
“…we are delighted with the Government’s announcement which is a real step forward for local democracy.”
This is not “modernisation.”
It is a coordinated lobbying campaign , using Covid as leverage, to normalise procedural changes that fundamentally alter how councils operate.
The Real Impact
What this means in practice:
- Remote meetings:
Allow officers to control who is seen and heard.
Make it significantly harder for the public to participate or speak, while giving council officers complete control over who is visible, audible, and allowed to contribute.
Eliminate informal contact and pressure that happens in person.
Turn democratic deliberation into a managed performance.
- Proxy voting:
Councillors don’t even have to be present.
Party whips or leaders can gather block votes.
Residents have no way of knowing whether their representative has even engaged with the issue.
- Hybrid models:
Allow the illusion of participation while diluting real accountability.
The Broader Pattern
This is not an isolated procedural reform.
It is part of a much larger transformation:
The same councils pushing remote meetings are also progressing reorganisation into large unitary authorities.
The same officers championing proxy voting are rewriting standards codes to discipline dissent.
The same professional bodies- ADSO, LLG, the Local Government Association -are driving this agenda behind closed doors, without public mandate.
While the public is distracted by culture war headlines, these foundational changes to democratic processes are quietly being locked in place.
Why We Are Publishing This
Some will say these changes are harmless “modernisation.”
We believe the opposite.
When you remove the requirement for people to be physically present in a chamber to make decisions, you remove accountability. When you normalise proxy voting, you reduce democracy to a process of procedural compliance.
These changes were never mandated by public demand.
They were the project of a small, determined administrative class who see themselves as the true custodians of governance.
Sources
ADSO/LLG Joint Statement, 16 June 2025
High Court action (2021)
Government Consultation on Remote Meetings
Our Freedom of Information correspondence with councils and other relevant public authorities.