2 min read
Keir Starmer has scrapped plans to postpone dozens of local elections.
MPs were told on Monday that elections in 30 local authorities will now go ahead after having been delayed until 2027.
The government later confirmed the decision in a statement, with a Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Governmentspokesperson saying it was due to legal advice.
“Following legal advice, the government has withdrawn its original decision to postpone 30 local elections in May.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,” they said.
The government decided to delay some local elections to create space and time for a planned restructuring of local government.
However, in a letter seen by PoliticsHome, government lawyers said: “The secretary of state has decided to withdraw his decision to postpone the council elections of 30 local councils due to take place in May 2026 in the light of recent legal advice.”
Nigel Farage’s Reform UK had launched a legal challenge against the move to delay elections in the 30 areas.
“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,” Farage posted on X in response to the government announcement.
The 7 May elections, which will take place in councils across England, as well as to the Scottish and Welsh parliaments, are expected to be painful for both Starmer’s Labour Party and Kemi Badenoch’s Conservatives.
The decision to go ahead with the full slate of local elections boosts Reform’s chances of a further electoral breakthrough, while the Greens and Liberal Democrats are also expected to make gains.
