Essex council will not ask to postpone election

Essex County Council will not ask for its elections to be postponed for a second year running, its Conservative leader has told government.

Kevin Bentley wrote to Local Government Minister Alison McGovern and said his teams were prepared for the votes to go ahead as planned in May.

However, he pointed out that the forthcoming overhaul of local authorities, as well as challenges in the education sector, puts "huge strain on our systems".

Westminster had already told some councils in England they would agree to postponing elections because of the major shake-up to local government.

"Officers are planning for ordinary elections in 2026 and stand ready to deliver them," said Bentley.

Last year, councillors voted to abandon the May 2025 elections in order to concentrate on preparing for local government reform.

Local authorities in Essex could be abolished and replaced with somewhere between three and five all-purpose unitary councils.

In his letter, Bentley laid out the challenges of putting on elections.

He referenced the increased costs of educational, health and care plans for children with special educational needs and disabilities - with about 300 applications submitted a month.

But he was clear in his letter that he would not be responsible for scrapping elections once again, and was not calling for it.

"Clearly, only the government can determine whether the 2026 elections should be postponed."

Thurrock Council - whose multi-million pound debts have been well documented - will be requesting the cancellations of elections there.

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