Local elections set to go ahead after govt U-Turn

Four Midlands councils will hold elections as planned this year, after the government ditched plans to postpone polls in dozens of local authority areas across the country in the face of a legal challenge.

Earlier this year, Housing, Communities and Local Government Minister Steve Reed wrote to 30 councils to tell them their elections would be delayed by a year, part of controversial plans to reorganise local government by replacing two-tier councils with “streamlined” unitary authorities.

But electors in Tamworth, Rugby, Cannock Chase and Redditch will now go to the polls in May as planned, after Reed confirmed a government U-Turn on the decision, apparently prompted by legal advice.

Announcing plans to postpone elections on January 22, Reed told council leaders that the decision would free up capacity within councils to allow them to focus on reorganisation, while also addressing concerns over the cost of holding elections for bodies that could soon cease to exist.

But in response, rival political party Reform UK launched a legal challenge to the plans, which it said were “undemocratic” – with the case due to be heard in the High Court this week.

In a dramatic climb down prior to the case going before the court on Thursday, Reed again wrote to council leaders to tell them that May elections were now back on – with the government forced to bear the cost of Reform UK’s legal challenge.

“The Government has today written to the High Court setting out the following position: The Secretary of State has decided to withdraw his decision to postpone the council elections of 30 local councils due to take place in May 2026 in the light of recent legal advice,” he told them.

“The Secretary State invited the housing minister, who was not involved in the initial decision-making, to reconsider the position afresh on a very urgent basis recognising the pressing timescales involved. The housing minister has decided that the elections should proceed in May 2026.”

In his letter, Reed said he recognised the “genuine concerns” of council undergoing reorganisation, adding that an extra £63m would be made available for 21 local authorities, on top of a £7.6m budget provided for developing proposals last year.

In a statement published on social media, Reform leader Nigel Farage claimed victory over the government.

“We took this Labour government to court and won. In collusion with the Tories, Keir Starmer tried to stop 4.6m people voting on May 7th,” he said.