Government U-turn as plans to cancel some local council elections scrapped

Following legal advice, the Secretary of State has withdrawn his original decision to postpone 30 local elections due to take place in May 2026.

The government was prepared to defend the plans against a legal challenge by Reform UK in court, but has now backed down after receiving new legal advice.

The Secretary of State has written to council leaders and key stakeholders to confirm this decision.

​The ​Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) will take the necessary steps to revoke the secondary legislation in Parliament to ensure that all local elections will now go ahead in May 2026.

The government also confirmed today that up to £63 million in new capacity funding will be made available to help local councils across the 21 reorganisation areas to best deliver local government re-organisation, building on the £7.6 million provided for developing proposals last year.

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There were 136 local elections across England that were scheduled for May 2026.

Of these, 63 were eligible to request a postponement due to local government reorganisation, and in January it was announced that 30 would be delayed.

Polls in five of these areas had already been delayed from May 2025.

There are no planned local elections in Nottinghamshire in 2026.