LOCAL elections in Thurrock will now take place in May after the Government abandoned plans to postpone ballots for 30 councils undergoing Local Government Reorganisation reports the Local Democracy Reporter.
Thurrock was among the authorities that had formally requested a delay to the 2026 elections, arguing that pausing the polls would ease pressure on officers working on the major restructuring of councils across the region.
But in a dramatic U-turn yesterday, Local Government Secretary Steve Reed confirmed the postponement decision had been withdrawn following “recent legal advice”.
In a letter sent to council leaders, Mr Reed said the Government had written to the High Court setting out its intention to reverse the decision, adding that a new housing minister had reconsidered the matter “afresh” and determined that elections should proceed as normal.
The Government will now pay the legal costs of Reform UK, which brought the challenge against the postponement. Mr Reed also announced that up to £63 million will be made available to help the 21 areas affected by reorganisation pressures.
Despite the U-turn, Thurrock had been preparing for elections to be cancelled for a second consecutive year if the request had been approved.
The decision was welcomed by Conservative group leader George Coxshall, who said the original plan to delay voting had been “wholly wrong”.
He said: “As usual, the Labour Government has u turned. I never once supported plans to postpone our elections and have been deeply concerned about how openly the Government offered postponement opportunities, despite having no confirmed vision for reorganisation.
“We all know why the Government wanted to postpone elections — it knows it is about to get a pasting and was hiding behind the fig leaf of Local Government Reorganisation. Well, you can’t escape democracy.”
Mr Coxshall said he was “appalled” that Thurrock had requested a delay “without any clarity about the future”.
Ministers said the priority now is to give councils certainty.
A Government spokesperson said: “Following legal advice, the Government has withdrawn its original decision to postpone 30 local elections in May. All local elections will now go ahead in May 2026.”
Lynn Worrall, leader of Thurrock Council, said: “In all the discussions about whether or not elections should go ahead in areas undergoing local government reorganisation (LGR), I have been clear that the decision was one that only the Government could take. They asked for, and we provided, our considered view about capacity within the council to simultaneously deliver elections, and prepare for LGR, whilst also continuing on our improvement journey under Government intervention. They then wrote to us last month confirming that elections would be postponed.
“Whilst it is disappointing that this decision has been reversed so late in the day, we have always stood ready to deliver all out elections in Thurrock this May, and we will now move forward with our plans. Capacity remains a challenge, and so we welcome today’s announcement that more funding will be released to support councils going through significant and complex change.”
