Politics
Starmer Drops Plans To Delay Some Local Elections In Another U-Turn
Keir Starmer’s government has just abandoned plans to delay local elections in Labour’s 14th recorded U-turn since getting into power.
The government had planned to delay local elections for 30 councils in England – which were originally scheduled for May – while re-organising the council system and abolishing some local authorities.
While Labour justified the decision by claiming their rejig of the system would make elections expensive and unnecessary, the move sparked outrage because it would have enabled some councillors to sit for an extended seven-year term instead of a four-year period.
Local government secretary Steve Reed has since confirmed that he has chosen to “withdraw his decision” in “the light of recent legal advice”.
The announcement was confirmed in a letter from the government’s legal department, shared by Reform leader Nigel Farage.
The letter said housing minister Matthew Pennycook had been asked to reconsider the initial decision, and he decided the elections should go ahead in May 2026.
This U-turn is a win for the rising right-wing party who were planning to take the government to court.
A two-day High Court hearing was set to take place on Thursday, but Labour are now looking to “seek to agree an order” with Farage’s party.
The government also promised to “pay the claimant’s costs of these proceedings”.
Farage wrote on X: “We took this Labour government to court and won.
“In collusion with the Tories, Keir Starmer tried to stop 4.6 million people voting on May 7th. Only Reform UK fights for democracy.”
This marks Labour’s 14th major U-turn since getting into office.
Other U-turns include plans to look into grooming gangs, the measurement of government debt, trans rights, the two-child benefit cap, the WASPI women, winter fuel payments, sickness and benefits cuts, national insurance, income tax thresholds, unfair dismissal of new workers, inheritance tax on farmers, business rates for pub U-turn and digital ID cards.