Reform UK taking legal action against Government over election delay plans

More than a dozen councils have asked to delay district and county elections due to take place on May 7, as officials seek to make structural changes to local government.

In a post on X on Friday, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said that 29 councils had asked to postpone ballots, which he claimed represented “3.9 million people across 591 council seats”.

The party is now taking legal action against the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government over the plans.

In a court order published on Friday, Mr Justice Chamberlain said that Reform UK was seeking an order temporarily blocking the Government from changing the date of forthcoming elections pending the hearing of the full legal challenge.

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The judge continued that the issue of whether to grant a temporary block would be decided at a hearing on Tuesday, with Reform UK asking the court to determine the full claim before the end of March, when notices of election are published.

He said: “The decision challenged is described on the claim form as ‘a proposal, made on 18 December 2025, to postpone, or cancel, an unspecified number of local council elections that are statutorily due to occur on 7 May 2026, and any such orders as may be made by the defendant purporting to postpone or cancel any such election’.

“The claimant seeks interim relief in the form of an interim order prohibiting the defendant from making any statutory orders which would change the date of the forthcoming elections.

“This relief is said to be justified because, if such statutory orders were made, they would have the likely effect of discouraging candidates from coming forward and/or participating, stymie the selection of candidates and undermine the conduct of local election campaigns.”

He continued: “The court will wish to be as informed as possible about the arguments for and against interim relief before determining the application.

“Given the asserted need to determine the application quickly, the fairest way to determine it is at a hearing.”

Data from the Association of Electoral Administrators on Thursday suggested that 16 district councils had requested a postponement of their elections, including Norwich, Stevenage and Exeter.

East Sussex and West Sussex County Councils had also requested postponements ahead of the deadline, which passed at midnight on Thursday.

Opposition critics have said Labour is “running scared” of voters after ministers said they would authorise delays if councils had concerns about their capacity to introduce reforms in time.

Shadow local government secretary Sir James Cleverley said on Thursday that the Government was “denying democracy and depriving local communities of the right to choose who represents them”.

But Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer defended the Government’s plans and said the prospect of postponements was “a common sense question” of whether to go forward with elections in cases where the local authority is due to undergo changes.

Housing Secretary Steve Reed also previously rejected claims that delays are “denying democracy”, calling the shake-up “sensible”.