Council wants to go ahead with elections

Huntingdonshire District Council said it wanted to go ahead with its planned local elections.

All seats on the council were due to be contested in May; however, central government said local authorities could request a postponement to focus on Local Government Reorganisation.

Huntingdonshire's decision was made at a full council meeting on Wednesday evening.

Cambridge City and South Cambridgeshire District councils have already said they want to hold their elections as planned, whereas Peterborough City Council asked for a postponement.

A report presented to Huntingdonshire's councillors acknowledged the "significant work" involved in progressing with Local Government Reorganisation. However, it said it was important to "maintain democratic accountability".

Liberal Democrat executive leader at the council, Sarah Conboy, said: "Elections are a vital part of local democracy. While we recognise the challenges associated with Local Government Reorganisation, the council believes it is important that residents retain the opportunity to elect their representatives in 2026, ensuring strong democratic oversight during a period of change.

The council is run by a coalition of Liberal Democrats, Labour, Independents and the Green Party.

Speaking about its decision to allow elections to be postponed, a Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson previously said: "Some councils have told the department that elections could derail once-in-a-generation plans to scrap wasteful 'two-tier' councils and create strengthened unitary authorities by 2028 across the final 20 areas."

Speaking last week, Bridget Smith, who is the Liberal Democrat leader of South Cambridgeshire District Council, criticised the government's offer, and said: "It is not right for central government to be demanding that councillors decide whether residents should be denied the opportunity to vote or not. "

Cambridge City Council's Labour leader, Cameron Holloway, said the council had "the capacity to go ahead with elections this year while also making a success of local government reorganisation".

However, Peterborough City Council's cabinet members voted on Monday to ask for a postponement.

Labour council leader Shabina Qayyum said the decision had not been taken lightly, but was in response to "a complete rebuild of the council system".

"In my mind, the most important consideration here is Peterborough City Council's capacity to deliver local government reorganisation for our residents, whilst maintaining service delivery for every resident of our city who relies on the services that we provide," she said.

"Local government reorganisation is not just a boundary tweak, but a complete rebuild of the council system," she added.

Government ministers are expected to make decisions on the requests in the coming days.

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