English councils face ‘unnecessary race against time’ to organise elections, leaders say

Government drops plans to delay 7 May ballots for 30 councils undergoing reorganisation, leaving 11 weeks to prepare

Councils are experiencing whiplash" and face an unnecessary race against time" to organise ballots after the government abandoned plans to delay 30 council elections in England, local authority leaders have said.

Ministers had wanted to delay elections at councils undergoing major reorganisation, with many set to be merged or subsumed into others, but faced a legal challenge from Reform UK, which argued it was undemocratic.