Council leader defends postponing local elections

The leader of Chorley Council has defended asking for the borough’s local elections to be called off this year.

The government agreed to the request from the Labour-run authority after giving all those councils that are due to be abolished in 2028 – and which also had what would be their last ever set of elections scheduled for this year – the opportunity to make the case for cancelling the votes.

They asked the councils to set out any concerns they had about having the capacity to manage both elections and the complex reorganisation process – demanded by the government itself – that is poised to begin.

Against that backdrop, Chorley leader Alistair Bradley told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that the electoral contest – which it was mathematically impossible for his ruling Labour group to lose, as only a third of the seats were up for grabs – would have been a “waste” of valuable time and resources.

He said his authority would “always wish to see elections take place” – provided they “do not have a cost to our residents that is greater than the benefit”.

“Local councils are democratically accountable to their residents – and regular elections ensure that they remain accountable and responsive. 

However, we believe that the elections scheduled to take place in May 2026 [would] reduce the capacity to deliver local government reorganisation – and be at a significant cost [over £250k] to the public purse for a minimal benefit to the electorate,” Cllr Bradley said.

The government is expected to decide in the summer which of the five shake-up options put forward by Lancashire – suggesting the size and shape of the new local authorities to be created across the county – will be implemented.

However, Cllr Bradley said preparations could – and should – be made ahead of that date, noting that the government had already established a civil service team to work with Lancashire on the forthcoming changes.

“To lose that opportunity will make the job of leading successful reorganisation even more challenging,” he said, adding that as West Lancashire was certain to be joining Chorley and South Ribble under all of the possible new council configurations, it was important to start strengthening the relationship between the trio to match that which already exists between Chorley and South Ribble themselves.

Chorley’s opposition Conservative group had expressed concern over the potential cancellation of the elections when the issue was debated at a meeting in November.

Group member Cllr Craige Southern said he feared the authority would be “seen to be reticent to give the people a say…and people [will] think that they’re going to be robbed of a vote”.

Tory leader Alan Platt said he could only “reiterate” his party’s position when approached by the LDRS for fresh comment following the government’s decision.

Reform UK, which has only one member on Chorley Council, last week published polling carried out on its behalf which suggested the party would have secured the largest share of the vote in the borough in May – 32 percent ahead of a predicted 24 percent for Labour.

The Reform leader of Lancashire County Council, Stephen Atkinson, said in the wake of the government decision on the elections that any politicians who had requested cancellation should be “ashamed of themselves”.

“Labour are running scared of facing Reform at the ballot box.   British people value democracy and will not forget this betrayal.

“Reform’s judicial review to force these elections to go ahead is well under way and it has my full backing.”

Cllr Bradley accused Reform of “double standards” in view of the county council’s call, at its meeting in November, for the government to push back the shadow elections for the new authorities by at least 12 months to May 2028.

However, the party hit back at that criticism, branding it a “fundamental misunderstanding” of the meeting in question.

It said that the request regarding the date of the shadow elections – for organisations that do yet exist – was made to “ensure stabilisation and improvements to key services”, such as adult social care and special educational needs, before the new councils are established.

The move followed a letter sent to the government in October – signed by County Cllr Atkinson and several opposition group leaders – calling for the new authorities not to be brought into being until 2029 or 2030, consistent with holding shadow elections in 2028, because of the risk to the “viability” of of vital services, should the reorganisation process be “rushed”.

At the same November meeting, a Reform-proposed motion was passed instructing the county council’s chief executive to write to the government “seeking an assurance from him that local elections [in 2026] will not be cancelled” – and to request that steps were taken to remove the Secretary of State’s power to do so without a debate and vote in Parliament.

A Reform spokesperson told the LDRS:  “Reform UK in Lancashire County Council will never – and have never – supported cancelling elections.”

Six out of the seven elections that were due to take place in Lancashire in May have been halted – as well as in Chorley, planned polls have also been scrapped in Blackburn with Darwen, Burnley, Hyndburn, Preston and West Lancashire. However, voting will go ahead as scheduled in Pendle after the authority’s request for cancellation was refused by the government.