Like many recent Government announcements, the news that elections for newly-created Mayoral positions in Greater Essex, Hampshire & Solent, Norfolk & Suffolk and Sussex & Brighton will be delayed from May next year until May 2028 did not arise from a statement in the House of Commons but was leaked to the media. To say Opposition parties have taken the news badly would be something of an understatement. Shadow Local Government Secretary, Sir James Cleverly, accused the Government of “subverting democracy” while Liberal Democrat Local Government spokesperson Zoe Franklin claimed “democracy delayed is democracy denied”. Furthermore, for the second year running, poll-leading Reform UK is claiming in typically strident language that the Labour Government is running scared from the electorate by cancelling elections with their Deputy Leader Richard Tice calling the decision “a deliberate dictatorial cancelling of democracy”. The Green Party has also criticised the lack of communication it has received from Government prior to the announcement.
While the Government will undoubtedly claim as justification that more time is needed for Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) through the creation of new unitary local authorities in these areas, this is not a new discovery. Moreover, we are informed that the new Strategic Authorities will still be launched with additional Government funding but without the Mayoral figurehead that was promised by the Government when its English Devolution White Paper was published in December 2024.
This is somewhat unchartered territory. Typically elections in the UK are only postponed due to national emergencies – war (in 1940) or major public health crises (Foot & Mouth disease in 2001 and Covid in 2020). Therefore, the fact that certain scheduled elections have now been postponed in two successive years, raises serious questions around the Government’s commitment to renewing local government democracy through the creation of elected Mayors across the country.
Furthermore, it is somewhat curious for a Government which is constantly arguing for the importance of elected Mayors as engines for economic growth to delay their creation. At the recent Budget, Chancellor Rachel Reeves spoke of “putting money and power back in the hands of local and regional leaders” to facilitate economic growth and yet one week later the Government has postponed the establishment of such local leaders for an area covering seven million people. The Government was not wrong in its previous praise for elected Mayors and at their best they are a force for good. Undoubtedly, elected Mayors such as Labour’s Andy Burnham in Greater Manchester and the Conservative Ben Houchen in Tees Valley have made a discernible contribution to growing their local economies. Frequently Labour MPs talk passionately about the importance of growing the Economy over the course of this Parliament as the Party’s main defence against the increasing threat of Reform UK at the next General Election and yet with these new Mayors now put on hold until May 2028, any contribution they may have made towards economic growth will not be felt until after the next General Election.
Moreover, on a human level one has to feel sympathy for the Mayoral candidates from across the ideological spectrum (most of whom had been selected) who are now plunged into two and a half years of electoral limbo. Many will have already made personal and professional sacrifices to stand and one wonders if all will make it to the starting line in May 2028. Furthermore, council officers will have been planning for the Mayoral elections and those involved in creating the Strategic Authorities will be having to significantly revise their plans with short notice
The decision to postpone the Mayoral elections in Greater Essex, Hampshire & Solent, Norfolk & Suffolk and Sussex & Brighton is both deleterious for economic growth and attempts to renew local government democracy. So why has the Government made this decision? Many commentators have suggested that electoral politics are the main motivation behind the Government’s decision and it is hard to disagree with this analysis. Following Reform UK winning Mayoral elections in Lincolnshire and Hull & East Yorkshire in May 2025, it appears that there are considerable concerns within the Labour Government that similar outcomes could be repeated. Therefore, rather than create more Reform UK Mayors, the Government has decided to kick the Mayoral can down the road.
It remains to be seen if the decision to cancel the Mayoral elections will be challenged in the courts and it appears probable that many of the County and District Council elections scheduled for May 2026 will still be held. However, the decision by the Government to postpone these four Mayoral elections scheduled to take place in May 2026 gives the impression of an administration which is somewhat fearful of local democracy and that is never a good look for any Government.