Labour accused of ‘collusion’ as nine council areas cancel May local elections

Angela Rayner has said on Wednesday that the local elections for nine council areas have been cancelled for May and will now take place in 2026.

Rayner announced in the House of Commons that Norfolk, Suffolk, Surrey, the Isle of White, Thurrock, Hampshire, Essex, East and West Sussex.

The Housing, Communities and Local Government Secretary told MPs, “The government’s starting point is for all elections to go ahead unless there is strong justification for postponement. The bar is high and rightly so. I am only agreeing to half of the requests made.

“After careful consideration, I have only agreed to postpone elections in places where this is central to our manifesto promise to deliver devolution.

We are not in the business of holding elections to bodies that won’t exist and where we don’t know what will replace them.

“This would be an expensive and irresponsible waste of taxpayers’ money. Any party calling for these elections to go ahead must explain how this waste could be justifiable.

The Reform leader Nigel Farage has accused the Labour government and Tory councils of “collusion.”

Speaking to The Times Farage said, “I thought that only dictators cancelled elections but what I see today is collusion to stave off the threat of Reform UK on May 1.”

The Tories accused Labour of “massively rushed this whole exercise.”

Shadow communities secretary Kevin Hollinrake said, “There has been no attempt to gather consensus within two-tier areas. Local residents have not been consulted. Council leaders have a ‘gun to their head’ from the Labour Government.

“This whole process should be considered in slower time, with proper and open consultation, and not imposed from Whitehall on your town hall.

“Last year, we set out five key tests that any restructuring should meet – and Labour have failed at every hurdle. This mass postponement of elections is unprecedented and entirely wrong.

“Conservatives support greater joint working and stronger local accountability. But there are many ways to do this, and local government should be ‘local’ to residents, and respect local identities. No council should be bullied or blackmailed into local government restructuring.”