Council elections postponed for a year in nine areas due to Angela Rayner's local government shake-up - see full list
5 February 2025, 14:40
May elections in nine council areas have been postponed for one year amid the reorganisation of local government in England, Angela Rayner has confirmed.
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The Deputy Prime Minister has also invited all 21 two-tier areas - which have both county and district councils - to submit proposals to reorganise themselves into single "unitary" authorities.
Ms Rayner, who is also the Housing, Communities and Local Government Secretary, agreed to cancel elections in May because the Government is "not in the business of holding elections to bodies that won't exist", so votes will be held in May 2026 after the expected reorganisation.
The nine affected areas are East Sussex, West Sussex, Essex, Thurrock, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Norfolk, Suffolk and Surrey.
Ms Rayner also unveiled seven new potential devolution areas with "a view to mayoral elections in May 2026" across Cumbria, Cheshire and Warrington, Greater Essex, Hampshire and Solent, Norfolk and Suffolk, Sussex and Brighton, and Lancashire.
Announcing the delay to elections, the Deputy Prime Minister told the Commons: "For certain areas, a significant amount of work is needed to unlock devolution and deliver reorganisation. For this reason, some areas requested to postpone their elections until May 2026.
"The Government's starting point is for all elections to go ahead unless there's a strong justification for postponement, and the bar is high, and rightly so.
"I am only agreeing to half of the requests that were made. After careful consideration, I have only agreed to postpone elections in places where this is central to our manifesto promise to deliver devolution.
"We're not in the business of holding elections to bodies that won't exist and where we don't know what will replace them. This would be an expensive and irresponsible waste of taxpayers' money, and any party calling for these elections to go ahead must explain how this waste would be justifiable."
Ms Rayner added Surrey had been selected "given the urgency of creating sustainable new unitary structures and to unlock devolution for this area", amid financial difficulties at Woking Borough Council where the authority had a £1.2 billion hole in its budget caused by "extreme" high levels of borrowing.
The Deputy Prime Minister earlier said: "Today, I will be issuing a legal invitation to all 21 two-tier areas to submit proposals for new unitary councils."
On the seven new potential devolution areas, Ms Rayner said: "These places will get a fast-track ticket to drive real change in their area.
"While devolution can sound techie, the outcome is simple - it's a plan for putting more money in people's pockets, it's a plan for quicker, better, cheaper transport designed with local people in mind, a plan for putting politics back in the service of working people."
Here is a full list of the local and mayoral elections due to take place on Thursday May 1 2025, as well as details of the elections that have been postponed until 2026.
All the elections are in England; there are no local elections scheduled for May 2025 in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The list is divided into five sections: county councils, metropolitan boroughs, unitary authorities, combined-authority mayors and local authority directly-elected mayors.
Information is given for which party or parties currently control each council, along with the incumbent party for each mayor.
At the end of each section are details of which elections have been postponed to May 2026.
County councils
Taking place on May 1 2025:
Cambridgeshire
- All seats up for election
- No party currently has a majority; the council is run by a joint administration of Liberal Democrats, Labour and Independent councillors
Derbyshire
- All seats up for election
- The Conservative Party has a majority
Devon
- All seats up for election
- Conservative majority
Gloucestershire
- All seats up for election
- No party currently has a majority; the council is run by a minority Conservative administration
Hertfordshire
- All seats up for election
- Conservative majority
Kent
- All seats up for election
- Conservative majority
Lancashire
- All seats up for election
- Conservative majority
Leicestershire
- All seats up for election
- Conservative majority
Lincolnshire
- All seats up for election
- Conservative majority
Nottinghamshire
- All seats up for election
- No party currently has a majority; the council is run by a minority Conservative administration
Oxfordshire
- All seats up for election
- No party currently has a majority; the council is run by a minority administration of Liberal Democrat and Green councillors
Staffordshire
- All seats up for election
- Conservative majority
Warwickshire
- All seats up for election
- Conservative majority
Worcestershire
- All seats up for election
- Conservative majority
Postponed to May 2026:
East Sussex
- All seats were up for election in 2025
- No party currently has a majority; the council is run by a minority Conservative administration
Essex
- All seats were up for election
- Conservative majority
Hampshire
- All seats were up for election
- Conservative majority
Norfolk
- All seats were up for election
- Conservative majority
Suffolk
- All seats were up for election
- Conservative majority
Surrey
- All seats were up for election
- Conservative majority
West Sussex
- All seats were up for election
- Conservative majority
Metropolitan boroughs
Taking place on May 1 2025:
Doncaster
- All seats up for election
- Labour majority
Unitary authorities
Taking place on May 1 2025:
Buckinghamshire
- All seats up for election
- Conservative majority
Cornwall
- All seats up for election
- No party currently has a majority; the authority is run by a minority Conservative administration
Durham
- All seats up for election
- No party currently has a majority; the authority is run by an administration made up of Conservative, Liberal Democrat, Green and independent councillors
North Northamptonshire
- All seats up for election
- Conservative majority
Northumberland
- All seats up for election
- No party currently has a majority; the authority is run by a minority Conservative administration
Shropshire
- All seats up for election
- Conservative majority
West Northamptonshire
- All seats up for election
- Conservative majority
Wiltshire
- All seats up for election
- Conservative majority
Postponed to May 2026:
Isle of Wight
- All seats were up for election in 2025
- No party currently has a majority; the authority is run by an administration made up of independent and Green councillors
Thurrock
- All seats were up for election
- Labour majority
Combined-authority mayors
Taking place on May 1 2025:
Cambridgeshire & Peterborough
- Currently held by Labour
Greater Lincolnshire
- To be elected for first time
Hull & East Yorkshire
- To be elected for first time
West of England
- Currently held by Labour
Local authority directly-elected mayors
Taking place on May 1 2025:
Doncaster
- Currently held by Labour
North Tyneside
- Currently held by Labour
