Government cancels plan to delay local council elections in England

Ministers have dropped controversial plans to delay 30 local elections this May after receiving legal advice that doing so might not be lawful.The government had planned to delay a number of elections in England while they carry out a reorganisation of local authorities, which is likely to lead to some authorities merging or being subsumed into others. Ministers argued against holding elections for councils that might cease to exist in a year or two.However, the plans created a backlash from opposition parties, and a legal challenge from Reform UK, which argued they were anti-democratic. With Reform’s case due to be heard this month, the government confirmed on Monday it was dropping the idea altogether.A spokesperson for the local government department said: “Following legal advice, the government has withdrawn its original decision to postpone 30 local elections in May.“Providing certainty to councils about their local elections is now the most crucial thing, and all local elections will now go ahead in May 2026.”In a letter to Nigel Farage, the Reform leader, a government lawyer said Steve Reed, the local government secretary, had asked Matthew Pennycook, the housing minister, to review the legality of the delay, and that Pennycook had decided the elections should go ahead this year.Farage posted on X: “We took this Labour government to court and won. In collusion with the Tories, Keir Starmer tried to stop 4.6 million people voting on May 7th. Only Reform UK fights for democracy.”More details soon …