The Government has abandoned plans to cancel local elections that were planned to take place this May
The controversial bid to delay dozens of local council elections was shelved after Reform went to court to prevent the process
While elections in Greater Manchester were going ahead as planned, elections in the North West in Blackburn with Darwen,Burnley,Chorley,Hyndburn,Pendle, Preston and West Lancashire had been cancelled
In a statement the Government said
“Following legal advice, the Government has withdrawn its original decision to postpone 30 local elections in May. “Providing certainty to councils about their local elections is now the most crucial thing, and all local elections will now go ahead in May 2026.”
The Government had justified the delays by claiming that a looming reorganisation of local authorities would make elections expensive, complicated and unnecessary.
Labour had been accused of disenfranchising people in a bid to stop Reform from winning control of a swathe of councils
