These councils will soon be abolished under a new local government reorganisation programme
The entrance to a polling station in Plymouth.(Image: Matt Gilley/PlymouthLive)
The Government has announced that 29 council elections will be postponed as part of a plan to reorganise English local authorities.
The postponements were announced by Steve Reed on Thursday.
The Housing and Local Government Secretary told the Commons: “In December, the minister for local government and homelessness wrote to 63 councils due to hold elections in May 2026 to hear their views.
“I have carefully assessed over 350 representations from those councils with elections scheduled in May and from others who are interested in the outcome,” the Labour MP for Streatham and Croydon North added. “I have carefully considered arguments made about capacity, reorganisation and democracy, and I’m grateful to everyone who took the time to express their views.
“I can now confirm my decisions to the House – I have decided to bring forward legislation to postpone 29 elections.”
Here is a full list of the authorities where voting had been due to take place in May, but will now not go ahead.
- 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
MPs have previously branded the postponement of local elections as “disappointing” and “embarrassing”.
Shortly before recess in December, the Government announced a further 63 council areas would be given the option to postpone elections until 2027.
Councillors in areas where elections are postponed will have their terms extended, Mr Reed said.
“In areas where elections are postponed, existing councillors will have their terms extended for a short period,” he explained. “Once the new unitary councils are agreed, we will hold elections to them in 2027.
“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.”
A standard term length for English councillors is four years. This means in some authorities, councillors will serve a term and a half – possibly longer – without facing voters.
