Local council elections in some areas face further postponements amid a growing dispute over the Labour Party’s proposed overhaul of local government in England.
Government ministers have signaled their willingness to approve requests from local authorities to delay elections scheduled for next May until 2027, provided these requests are submitted by mid-January.
Elections in nine affected areas have already been delayed once, having initially been slated for May 2025.
This has ignited controversy, with Reform UK leader Nigel Farage accusing both Labour and the Conservatives of colluding to impede his party’s potential gains.
Reform UK hopes to achieve significant victories in the upcoming local elections in England in May, aiming to translate its current lead in national opinion polls into control of local councils.
The government plans to abolish the existing two-tier system of district and county councils, replacing it with new authorities responsible for delivering all local services in their respective areas from 2028.
Ministers have now requested all 63 councils impacted by the reorganization and scheduled to hold elections in May to indicate whether they require a postponement.
Local Government Minister Alison McGovern stated that “multiple” authorities had requested a postponement, citing concerns about their capacity to manage “resource-intensive” elections during the transition period.
She added that some councils also questioned the financial burden on taxpayers of holding elections for councils soon to be abolished.
Speaking in the House of Commons, she noted that only a “minority” of the affected councils were seeking a suspension, without providing further details.
The announcement of potential delays, made just before Parliament’s Christmas recess, follows Local Government Secretary Steve Reed’s assurance to MPs two days prior that the scheduled elections “will go ahead.”
Conservative shadow local government minister Paul Holmes argued that local leaders should not be blamed for the delays, describing Labour’s reorganization as “rushed and deeply flawed.”
He accused Labour of “pausing the democratic process to serve their own political interests.”
While there is precedent for cancelling elections for councils nearing replacement, the slow progress of the reorganization has led to accusations that Labour is acting undemocratically.
Local polls in nine areas, including Suffolk, East and West Sussex, and Essex, have already been postponed once from their original date in May 2025.
If these elections are delayed again, some councillors will have served for seven years without facing local voters.
Elections for new mayors in Greater Essex, Norfolk & Suffolk, Hampshire & the Solent, and Sussex & Brighton have also been delayed by two years until May 2028, as confirmed earlier this month.
Labour holds a majority in 18 of the 63 councils consulted about potential delays, with the Conservatives holding a majority in nine and the Liberal Democrats in seven.
However, the Conservatives are defending the largest number of seats, at 1,415 – over a quarter of those currently up for re-election in May.
In a social media post, Farage commented: “Turkeys don’t vote for Christmas.”
“Tory county councils look set to collude with Labour to keep their control until 2027.”
“Only a banana republic bans elections, that’s what we have under Starmer,” he wrote, urging Tory leader Kemi Badenoch to “instruct her council leaders” against further delays.
Asked if Tory-run councils might request suspensions, Badenoch expressed her personal opposition to further delays, while indicating she would not interfere with authorities making such requests.
“Conservative leaders run their councils. I’m not a dictator, they know what I want,” she told the BBC.
“Those people have been elected to serve their local communities. They will give reasons for why they are asking for the elections to be run.
“We need to listen to what they are saying, but in my view we should just have all these elections and be done with it.”
Thurrock Council says some of its debt will be swallowed up by a new local authority.
Sean Woodcock said Oxfordshire would get a £141.6m cash injection, but the county council disagrees.
The councils are among those expected to lose out under a move to shift funding to more deprived areas.
A government-appointed commissioner says it will be “extraordinary” if Birmingham has a huge spike.
Alex Wagner says pilot schemes are planned to see how it could work.