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Full list of local elections that have been postponed as voters take to the polls.uk

admin May 1, 2025

Angela Rayner postponed the local elections in nine UK local authority areas – a move that has been hugely criticised by the likes of Nigel Farage and Ed Davey.

Angela Rayner

Angela Rayner made the controversial decision to cancel local elections in nine key areas (Image: Getty)

Millions of voters in England have been denied the chance to vote today thanks to a key decision made by Angela Rayner earlier this year. Many Brits will be voting for their representatives at local council level in a number of areas from Northumberland County Council in the north east of England, down to Cornwall Council in the south west on Thursday, May 1.

Following Ms Rayner’s announcement that the 2025 local elections were being postponed in the likes of Norfolk, Suffolk and Hampshire to allow local authorities more time to overhaul town hall from two tier to unitary authorities in line with UK Government policy, Nigel Farage fumed: “Labour and the Tories have officially cancelled 5.5m votes in May.”

He even went as far as to launch a petition under the Reform UK banner – calling for the county council elections to go ahead as planned. It gained nearly 500,000 signatures from angry voters from all parts of the British Isles. Meanwhile the Deputy PM has confirmed that new ballots will be held in 2026.

Nigel Farage Hosts Reform Party Press Conference

Nigel Farage started a petition after Angela Rayner’s announcement (Image: Getty)

There are also six mayoral elections being held today, including the first ever for the region of Hull and East Yorkshire, as well as in Greater Lincolnshire, where Andrea Jenkyns is hoping to win for Reform UK. One vote is proving particularly exciting as it was revealed that the West of England mayoralty remains a five-horse race according to pollsters, with all of the main parties in with a chance of winning.

Sir Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats, also criticised the move by the Labour Government to cancel the votes in nine local authority areas. He said: “The delay of so many local elections is a disgraceful stitch-up between Labour and the Conservatives. Where elections are still happening, the Liberal Democrats will campaign hard to build on last year’s historic election wins and give communities the strong voice they deserve.”