These are all of the UK councils which have requested delays to native elections for 2026 | EUROtoday

A listing of councils which have requested a delay to their native elections has now been launched.

Twenty-nine councils have requested a delay to their native elections that are attributable to happen in May. Of these, 21 are led by Labour, 4 are Conservative, two are Liberal, one is Green, and one is Independent.

It comes as Labour’s plans to scrap two-tier authorities and merge them into single unitary councils by 2028 are carried out.

The councils stated an absence of sources wanted to ship native authorities reorganisation (LGR), and the price of holding elections has led to the necessity for a delay.

Sixty-three councils have been provided a delay to their May elections by the federal government because of the obstacles surrounding LGR plans.

Out of the 63 councils Sky News approached, 29 stated they are going to be requesting a delay, 33 stated they won’t, and one couldn’t agree internally, evaluation by Sky News discovered.

The councils which have requested for a delay:

The delays have been criticised by opposition events, with Tory shadow native authorities secretary James Cleverly accusing Labour of “running scared of voters” amid devastating approval rankings.

“We are clear that these elections should go ahead. Ministers should treat voters with respect instead of disdain, stop undermining our democratic system and let the people of this country make their own decisions,” he added.

The Liberal Democrats have referred to as for a change within the regulation so “ministers cannot simply delay elections at the stroke of a pen”, with occasion chief Sir Ed Davey saying: “Both Labour and the Conservatives are running scared of the electorate, allowing councillors to serve terms of up to seven years without a democratic mandate.”

Nigel Farage took the chance to specific his outrage on the delays, as there’s the chance that Reform UK might wipe out Labour in some areas.

On Thursday, he launched plans for a judicial overview in an try to make the elections go forward, and has accused communities secretary Steve Reed of an “abuse of power”.

“We will use every means possible, starting with our judicial review”, he added.

Vijay Rangarajan, chief government of the Electoral Commission, stated the transfer triggered “unprecedented” uncertainty and will injury public confidence.

“We are disappointed by both the timing and substance of the statement. Scheduled elections should as a rule go ahead as planned, and only be postponed in exceptional circumstances”, he stated.

Mr Rangarajan added: “As a matter of principle, we do not think that capacity constraints are a legitimate reason for delaying long-planned elections.

“Extending existing mandates risks affecting the legitimacy of local decision-making and damaging public confidence.

“There is a clear conflict of interest in asking existing councils to decide how long it will be before they are answerable to voters.”