Correspondence

Local government reorganisation: update on Secretary of State's decision regarding local elections of May 2026

​​The Secretary of State wrote to council leaders and key stakeholders to inform them of his decision to withdraw his original decision to postpone 30 local elections due to take place in May 2026.​

• From: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and The Rt Hon Steve Reed OBE MP
• Published: 16 February 2026

Applies to England

Documents

Letter to council leaders: update on Secretary of State's decision regarding local elections of May 2026

PDF, 154 KB, 2 pages

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Details

Following legal advice, the Secretary of State has withdrawn his original decision to postpone 30 local elections due to take place in May 2026. 

He has written to council leaders and key stakeholders to confirm this decision. 

​The ​Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) will take the necessary steps to revoke the secondary legislation in Parliament to ensure that all local elections will now go ahead in May 2026.

The government also confirmed today that up to £63 million in new capacity funding will be made available to help local councils across the 21 reorganisation areas to best deliver local government re-organisation, building on the £7.6 million provided for developing proposals last year.

Published 16 February 2026