Confirmed list of which councils are going ahead with elections in May 2026














As I have previously posted, the Labour government asked 63 councils which were going through local government reorganisation whether they would like to postpone elections due this May (2026).

It is important to stress that there were councillors of all parties who voted to go ahead with elections, that a majority of councils did NOT ask to have their elections postponed, and the elections for those councils will go ahead in May.

We now know which councils have asked to have their elections postponed, and for which councils the government is bringing forward legislation to do this but for some reason there are discrepancies in what is being reported in the mainstream media and shared on social media about which councils are involved. I have seen various reports that 28, 29 or 30 councils asked for, or are, having their elections postponed - but the government statement lists 29 councils for which it says it is bringing forward legislation to postpone elections this year. They are:

 

  1. Adur District Council 
  2. Basildon Borough Council 
  3. Blackburn with Darwen Council 
  4. Burnley Borough Council 
  5. Cannock Chase District Council 
  6. Cheltenham Borough Council 
  7. Chorley Borough Council 
  8. City of Lincoln Council 
  9. Crawley Borough Council 
  10. East Sussex County Council 
  11. Exeter City Council 
  12. Harlow District Council 
  13. Hastings Borough Council 
  14. Hyndburn Borough Council 
  15. Ipswich Borough Council 
  16. Norfolk County Council 
  17. Norwich City Council 
  18. Peterborough City Council 
  19. Preston City Council 
  20. Redditch Borough Council 
  21. Rugby Borough Council 
  22. Stevenage Borough Council 
  23. Suffolk County Council 
  24. Tamworth Borough Council 
  25. Thurrock Council 
  26. Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council 
  27. West Lancashire Borough Council 
  28. West Sussex County Council 
  29. Worthing Borough Council 

Reform UK has been circulating an incorrect list which wrongly states that Essex County Council's elections are also being postponed. The Conservative leader of that council has confirmed that Essex never asked to have their elections postponed and they are absolutely going ahead in May. Essex does indeed appear on the government list of 34 councils with local government reorganisation which will have elections this year. That list comprises:

  1. Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council 
  2. Brentwood Borough Council 
  3. Broxbourne Borough Council 
  4. Cambridge City Council 
  5. Cherwell District Council 
  6. Colchester City Council 
  7. Eastleigh Borough Council 
  8. Epping Forest District Council 
  9. Essex County Council 
  10. Fareham Borough Council 
  11. Gosport Borough Council 
  12. Hampshire County Council 
  13. Hart District Council 
  14. Havant Borough Council 
  15. Huntingdonshire District Council 
  16. Isle of Wight Council 
  17. Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council 
  18. North East Lincolnshire Council 
  19. Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council 
  20. Oxford City Council 
  21. Pendle Borough Council 
  22. Plymouth City Council 
  23. Portsmouth City Council 
  24. Rochford District Council 
  25. Rushmoor Borough Council 
  26. South Cambridgeshire District Council 
  27. Southampton City Council 
  28. Southend-on-Sea City Council 
  29. St Albans City and District Council 
  30. Three Rivers District Council 
  31. Tunbridge Wells Borough Council 
  32. Watford Borough Council 
  33. West Oxfordshire District Council 
  34. Winchester City Council


About two thirds of the councils which asked to have their elections postponed are run by Labour.

The national position of the Conservative and Lib/Dem parties was that elections should go ahead. Despite this, one Lib/Dem council and a minority of the Conservative councils which were asked if they wanted to defer the elections did vote to do so, though as far as I can tell the great majority of Lib/Dem, Conservative, and Green councillors and a very substantial number of Labour councillors did vote to go ahead with elections.

On one hung council, Nuneaton and Bedworth borough council, the former Labour leader of the council lost a confidence motion by 19 votes to 18 and was therefore effectively sacked by the council because he wrote back to the government asking for the elections to be postponed. As it had been made clear that other party groups representing a majority of the council did not concur with that view Nuneaton and Bedworth is on the list above of councils which are not having their elections postponed. 










You can find the government statement about which councils are having elections at

Councils granted flexibility to finish reorganisation - GOV.UK

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