The government has dropped plans to postpone local elections in 30 areas of England due to take place in May, after receiving legal advice that delaying the polls would be unlawful.
The reversal follows a court challenge brought by Reform UK and means elections on 7 May will go ahead as originally scheduled, restoring the vote to around 4.5 million people who had been affected by the proposed postponements.
The Local Government Secretary, Steve Reed, confirmed the change of course on Monday after government lawyers provided updated advice indicating the policy would likely not withstand legal scrutiny. As part of the settlement, the government has also agreed to cover Reform UK’s legal costs, which Sky News understands to be a six-figure sum.
Ministers had argued the postponements were necessary to avoid spending public money and administrative effort on elections for councils expected to be abolished or merged under planned local government reorganisation. The government’s position was that holding elections for authorities due to be replaced would represent poor value for taxpayers and divert resources from preparing for structural changes.
However, following Reform UK’s challenge, ministers concluded the legal basis for cancelling or delaying the elections was insufficient. The government is now expected to scrap or substantially rewrite planned legislation which had been intended to facilitate the postponements.
Nigel Farage, Reform UK’s leader, welcomed the decision and described it as “a victory for democracy”. Opposition parties also claimed the reversal showed the government had been wrong to attempt to delay the elections, arguing voters should not be denied the chance to choose local representatives.
The U-turn comes less than three months before polling day, leaving councils and returning officers with a compressed timetable to finalise practical arrangements, including booking polling stations, recruiting and training staff, and printing and distributing ballot papers.
The episode adds to political pressure on Sir Keir Starmer ahead of a major set of local elections in England. Sky News has counted the decision as the government’s 15th U-turn since Labour entered office, a narrative opponents have used to question the prime minister’s grip and consistency.
The restored elections also expand the scale of the May contest. Alongside contests already scheduled across England, the reinstated polls increase the number of council seats and authorities in play, widening the electoral exposure for all major parties at a time when Reform UK has been seeking to convert national momentum into local representation.
Under the government’s wider plans for local government reorganisation, some areas are due to move towards larger unitary authorities by the end of the decade, replacing existing two-tier arrangements in parts of England. Ministers have argued that reorganisation is intended to streamline services and governance, but the attempt to pause elections in councils earmarked for change triggered criticism over democratic accountability and the timing of the proposed delays.
The government has not, so far, indicated whether it will publish the legal advice that led to the reversal, something opponents have called for in order to understand why ministers initially believed postponement was permissible.
The May elections are expected to be one of the biggest electoral tests of Starmer’s premiership to date, with contests taking place across a wide range of local authorities, including London boroughs and several mayoral races, alongside thousands of council seats. With more areas now voting than ministers had planned, the political stakes for the government have risen further in the run-up to polling day.