The deputy PM delayed local elections in nine parts of England for a year (Picture: PA/Metro)
Local elections due to take place in May will be delayed by a year in nine parts of England while their local governments are restructured, Angela Rayner has announced.
The nine areas are among 21 across England that are governed by both county and district councils – a system the government wants to simplify.
That means combining them into what are called unitary authorities, a system already in place in 62 parts of the country.
Rayner argued the move would ‘unlock devolution and deliver reorganisation’ for the council areas, which were selected from a list of 18 that had requested the change.
But because the government is ‘not in the business of holding elections to bodies that won’t exist’, she said, the votes scheduled in those areas for this spring will be delayed until May 2026.
The nine affected areas, all located either in East Anglia or the south of England, are East Sussex, West Sussex, Essex, Thurrock, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Norfolk, Suffolk and Surrey.
Rayner said holding elections in these places would be ‘an expensive and irresponsible waste of taxpayers’ money’.
The deputy prime minister, who also acts as local government secretary, added: ‘The government’s starting point is for all elections to go ahead unless there’s a strong justification for postponement, and the bar is high, and rightly so.
‘I am only agreeing to half of the requests that were made. After careful consideration, I have only agreed to postpone elections in places where this is central to our manifesto promise to deliver devolution.’
Shadow local government secretary Kevin Hollinrake said Rayner was creating ‘a new tier of Orwellian-sounding, strategic authorities which are closer to her and closer to Whitehall’.
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web
browser that
supports HTML5
video
He continued: ‘These are for her to use as a pawn to implement this government’s deeply unpopular socialist agenda.
‘The reality is that this is delegation, not devolution. Not devolution but a clear centralisation.’
The deputy PM also announced six new areas that will elect mayors for the first time in May 2026, after the East Midlands and York and North Yorkshire elected their first mayors last year.
They are Cumbria, Cheshire & Warrington, Norfolk & Suffolk, Greater Essex, Sussex & Brighton and Hampshire & Solent.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.