Labour council asks to cancel 2026 local elections

A Labour-run council has voted to request the cancellation of the local elections that are due to take place in May.

Stevenage Borough Council said it had taken the decision so it could "navigate" the planned local government reorganisation.

It is one of the councils that is set to be replaced by a unitary authority in 2028.

The authority's Liberal Democrat opposition described the move as "cowardly, unjustified and wrong".

The existing councils in Hertfordshire are due to be abolished as part of the government's reorganisation of the way local services are run.

They will be replaced by up to four new unitary authorities by 2028.

Last month, the government said some councils across the country had asked if their 2026 elections could be delayed so they did not have to run elections and prepare for reorganisation at the same time.

Ministers offered 63 councils, including those in Hertfordshire, the chance to request postponement.

The ruling cabinet at Stevenage Borough, where a third of the council seats are due to be contested in May, has voted to ask for the 2026 poll to be cancelled.

The leader of the Labour-run council, Richard Henry, said: "It is the option that best protects local services, finances and our responsibilities to the town as we navigate local government reorganisation over the next two years."

He pointed out that elections were held for all council seats in the borough in 2024, so the councillors whose seats were scheduled for elections in 2026 would only have served for two years.

Andy McGuinness, the leader of the Liberal Democrat opposition, said: "Labour's decision to cancel the May local elections in Stevenage is cowardly, unjustified and wrong.

"Liberal Democrats vehemently oppose this decision which can only be described as a betrayal of local people's democratic right to vote and choose their local representation."

If the request for the 2026 elections to be cancelled is granted, people across Hertfordshire will vote in 2027 for shadow authorities to set up the new unitary councils.

The deadline for councils to make the request is Thursday 15 January - so far none of the other Hertfordshire councils where elections are due to take place in 2026 has indicated a wish to call off this year's vote.

The Electoral Commission has said cancelling the 2026 polls "risks damaging public confidence".

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