Local Election Cancellations Confirmed - What now?

February 6, 2025

The Government has announced which local authorities will be granted permission to cancel their local elections on 1st May this year and take part in the ‘Devolution Priority Programme’ of local government reorganisation.

Where will elections be cancelled?

The counties where local authority elections will NOT be taking place are: East Sussex, West Sussex, Essex, Hampshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Surrey, and Isle of Wight. They will instead carry out reorganisation of their local government structures, abolishing their borough and district councils and forming new unitary authorities with their inaugural elections held in May 2026.

Whose requests were rejected?

This also means that many authorities' requests to delay their elections have been rejected, including all of the requests from Midlands authorities: Derbyshire, Devon, Gloucestershire, Kent, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Oxfordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire.

Why does it matter?

Depending on your interpretation, some Conservative Council administrations hoped to avoid facing the electorate this May and avoid defeat, thus retaining control until May 2026 when they hoped that either the polls would be more favourable, or the boundaries of a new unitary authority would be in their interests.

Nigel Farage's Reform Party are targeting this year's elections heavily and hope to make significant gains or even take control in areas like Derbyshire and Lincolnshire. Elsewhere, their impact may be to split the vote in Conservative held divisions in areas like Worcestershire and Kent. With the unpopularity of the Labour Party since the General election and the Conservatives taking third place behind Reform in some opinion polls, there will likely be changes of administration in many areas and the emergency of Reform Groups on many Councils.

Whatever happens, local political parties will now have to gear up for the elections in just 84 days’ time, and fast!

How should developers navigate this landscape?

Whether local government reorganisation in your area is taking place as part of the priority programme or during a later phase, the Government intends for all district and borough councils to be abolished by 2028 and expects all two-tier authorities to submit proposals by the autumn.

The political landscape, and thus the planning landscape, is changing at pace. DevComms have our finger on the pulse in every corner of England and can advise our clients on the best approach to engagement from one authority to the next.

Over the coming weeks, we are offering our clients a free CPD session on local government reorganisation, devolution and what it means for planning.

Get in touch with if this would be of interest.

Dominic Stanford - d.stanford@devcomms.co.uk