Angela Rayner Under Fire for Axing Local Elections in Nine Council Areas—Voters Outraged

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has upset many voters and politicians by deciding to cancel local elections that were supposed to happen in May.

She explained that elections in nine council areas will now be pushed back to 2026. As the person in charge of Housing, Communities, and Local Government, Rayner said this change is part of a bigger plan to reform local government in England.

The areas affected by this decision include East Sussex, West Sussex, Essex, Thurrock, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Norfolk, Suffolk, and Surrey. Most of these councils are currently run by the Conservative Party, and the Reform Party was hoping to gain support, especially in Essex and Thurrock.

Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, strongly criticized this move. He accused the Labour government and Conservative councils of secretly working together to prevent his party from gaining power. Speaking to The Times, he said, “I thought only dictators cancel elections, but today I see collusion to stop Reform UK from making progress on May 1.”

The Conservative Party also spoke out against the decision. They said the Labour government rushed into this without properly asking local people or council leaders what they think.

Shadow Communities Secretary Kevin Hollinrake was especially critical. He said there was no attempt to get agreement from local councils and that Labour is pressuring them to accept these changes. He described it as forcing councils into something they may not want.

Hollinrake argued that decisions like this should take more time and involve open discussions rather than being imposed from central government in Whitehall. He also mentioned that the Conservatives had set five key rules for local government restructuring, and in his view, Labour failed every single one of them.

He called the decision to delay the elections “wrong and unprecedented” and insisted that local government should remain close to the people it serves. He warned that no council should be forced or threatened into agreeing with Labour’s plans.

Despite the backlash, Rayner also announced that six new areas in England could be given more local powers, with the possibility of mayoral elections happening in May 2026.