Millions of people will not vote in local elections as planned this year, after 29 councils were allowed to postpone.
The move comes amid Sir Keir Starmer’s rejigging of local government, which aims to ‘streamline’ the system and prevent duplication of roles.
It’s expected the areas that were successful in securing a postponement will instead vote in May 2027.
Housing Secretary Steve Reed said: ‘This is a once-in-a-generation reform that will transform local government for the better.
‘Cutting through two-tier bureaucracy means faster decisions on housing, simpler access to services, and more money going to potholes, tackling crime and caring for older people instead of being lost to duplication.
‘That’s what residents want and that’s what reorganisation will achieve.’
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But opposition parties say Labour is ‘running scared’ of voters, and delaying would be an attempt to keep seats in the face of negative polls.
Here’s a roundup of which councils are going to postpone their elections later on this year.
Which councils will have their elections postponed?
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has confirmed the councils where legislation will be brought forward to postpone elections.
- Adur District Council
- Basildon Borough Council
- Blackburn with Darwen Council
- Burnley Borough Council
- Cannock Chase District Council
- Cheltenham Borough Council
- Chorley Borough Council
- City of Lincoln Council
- Crawley Borough Council
- East Sussex County Council
- Exeter City Council
- Harlow District Council
- Hastings Borough Council
- Hyndburn Borough Council
- Ipswich Borough Council
- Norfolk County Council
- Norwich City Council
- Peterborough City Council
- Preston City Council
- Redditch Borough Council
- Rugby Borough Council
- Stevenage Borough Council
- Suffolk County Council
- Tamworth Borough Council
- Thurrock Council
- Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council
- West Lancashire Borough Council
- West Sussex County Council
- Worthing Borough Council
Which elections are going ahead as normal?
The MHCLG has also confirmed the elections that will take place as planned this year.
- Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council
- Brentwood Borough Council
- Broxbourne Borough Council
- Cambridge City Council
- Cherwell District Council
- Colchester City Council
- Eastleigh Borough Council
- Epping Forest District Council
- Essex County Council
- Fareham Borough Council
- Gosport Borough Council
- Hampshire County Council
- Hart District Council
- Havant Borough Council
- Huntingdonshire District Council
- Isle of Wight Council
- Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council
- North East Lincolnshire Council
- Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council
- Oxford City Council
- Pendle Borough Council
- Plymouth City Council
- Portsmouth City Council
- Rochford District Council
- Rushmoor Borough Council
- South Cambridgeshire District Council
- Southampton City Council
- Southend-on-Sea City Council
- St Albans City and District Council
- Three Rivers District Council
- Tunbridge Wells Borough Council
- Watford Borough Council
- West Oxfordshire District Council
- Winchester City Council
Why are they making the request?
It comes after the Government unveiled a new plan to combine district and county councils into a handful of ‘unitary authorities’, getting rid of the two-tier system that exists in many parts of England.
The government say that the two-tier system ‘slows down decision making and delivery, leads to fragmented public services, sees money wasted on duplication and makes it unclear who is responsible for what and where accountability lies.
‘Our ambition is to simplify local government, by ending the two-tier system and establishing new single-tier unitary councils.’
Research from PwC also suggests replacing the current system with new centralised councils, overseeing minimum populations of 500,000, may save at least £1.8 billion over five years.
The move was included in Labour’s 2024 election manifesto, and they later unveiled more details in their white paper, which was published in December 2024.
Ministers say that some councillors ‘are concerned about the cost to the taxpayers of holding elections to councils that are proposed to shortly be abolished’.
ITV reports that West Sussex County Council said the cost of elections planned in 2026, 2027 and 2028 would cost taxpayers £9 million.
Reed previously told The Times: ‘Running a series of elections for short-lived zombie councils will be costly, time-consuming and will take scarce resources away from front-line services like fixing potholes and social care.’
Most councillors supporting a delay are Labour representatives, leading to accusations that the delay is an attempt to keep seats in the face of plummeting public opinion on the party.
But confirming the decision today, Reed told MPs: ‘To those who say we’ve cancelled all the elections, we haven’t. To those who say it’s all Labour councils, it isn’t.
‘I’ve asked, I’ve listened, and I’ve acted. No messing about, no playing politics, just getting on with the job of making local government work better for local people.’
What are people saying about the request to postpone?
Many see the potential to postpone the election as undemocratic, including many constituents from Redditch.
Police were called to a protest outside the Labour-run council in Worcestershire, where they discussed asking for a postponement.
It’s now confirmed that delay will be going ahead.
Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats, previously suggested that delaying elections breached human rights, and Nigel Farage has launched a legal bid to prevent delays from being allowed.
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