Anger as PM abandons plans to delay May elections

Keir Starmer has been forced to abandon plans to delay local elections with less than three months’ notice in another policy U-turn that has prompted anger among his own MPs and scorn from opposition leaders.

- Kiran Stacey Policy editor

The prime minister is under fire after ministers said yesterday they were abandoning plans to delay local elections in 30 places in England - a decision that will cost taxpayers millions of pounds in administrative costs.

Steve Reed, the local government secretary, announced the reversal after officials decided they were likely to lose a legal challenge brought by Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK.

The announcement has left the government facing a £100,000 legal bill from Reform and prompted a scramble among councils to organise elections in the next 12 weeks. It has also infuriated Labour MPs, many of whom opposed the decision to delay elections in the first place.

The decision also adds to the pressure on Starmer, who narrowly hung on to his job last week after losing two key officials and the support of Anas Sarwar, Labour’s leader in Scotland.

Reed told local government leaders yesterday: “The government can confirm that all local elections in May 2026 will now go ahead.

“I recognise that many of the local councils undergoing reorganisation voiced genuine concerns about the pressure they are under as we seek to deliver the most ambitious reforms of local government in a generation.”

Farage said Reed should resign as a result. Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, called the move “predictable chaos from a useless government that cannot make basic decisions”.

Several Labour MPs also voiced anger at the decision, which they said showed the elections should never have been delayed in the first place.