BREAKING: Keir Starmer abandons plans to delay council elections for hundreds of thousands in May

Keir Starmer has abandoned plans to postpone local elections for councils in May, the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government has said.

In a surprise announcement the government scrapped plans to delay votes in 30 areas – impacting millions of people in May.

An MHCLG spokesperson said: “Following legal advice, the Government has withdrawn its original decision to postpone 30 local elections in May.”

“Providing certainty to councils about their local elections is now the most crucial thing and all local elections will now go ahead in May 2026.”

It follows a legal challenge to the plans and the government has now written to all affected councils to confirm elections on May 7 will go ahead.

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