Overview
- By the government’s deadline, at least 22 councils had formally asked to postpone May polls, with multiple reports indicating roughly 27 are expected to seek delays affecting over five million residents and about 3.7 million registered voters.
- Local government secretary Steve Reed defended pausing votes for what he called short‑lived ‘zombie’ councils, arguing elections would drain scarce resources from services during reorganisation.
- The Electoral Commission said capacity pressures are not a legitimate reason to delay long‑planned elections and warned of a conflict of interest and potential damage to public confidence.
- Reform UK says it is preparing a High Court challenge and is expected to launch a judicial review to try to block approvals of councils’ postponement requests.
- Responses vary by area, with Norwich’s Labour cabinet voting to seek a delay and councils such as East Sussex, West Sussex, Suffolk and Lib Dem‑run Cheltenham expected to request one, while others including Hampshire have opposed any postponement.