More than 4 million people will see their local elections postponed in 29 council areas as part of the government's shake-up of English councils, the local government secretary confirmed on Thursday. Steve Reed said the vast majority of polls would go ahead as planned in May but some would be delayed.
City councils in Lincoln, Exeter, Norwich, Peterborough and Preston are among the authorities where votes will not take place on 7 May, alongside several districts such as Cannock Chase, Harlow, Welwyn Hatfield and West Lancashire, plus county councils in East Sussex, West Sussex, Norfolk and Suffolk.
This comes on top of a previous decision to postpone elections in nine council areas in 2025 – East Sussex, West Sussex, Essex, Thurrock, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Norfolk, Suffolk and Surrey – amid the reorganisation of local government. Some voters will now have faced a two-year delay.
The move was condemned by Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, who accused Keir Starmer of “colluding with Labour and Tory councils to cancel 30 council elections”. He said Reform UK is challenging the decision in a judicial review. Florence Eshalomi, Labour chair of the committee on housing, communities and local government, also raised concerns, stating “democracy is not an inefficiency that should be cut out”.
Reed defended the delays, saying he had “imposed nothing” and aimed for a “locally led approach”. The government plans to replace the two-tier system of district and county councils with single-tier unitary authorities, with elections to them due in 2027.
