The government is set to postpone elections for newly created mayors in four areas of England, the BBC has confirmed.
The new mayoralties in Greater Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk, Hampshire and Solent, and Sussex and Brighton were due to be contested in May next year, but elections will be held in 2028.
A formal announcement is expected later. The government will argue that areas need more time to complete their local government reorganisation.
Opposition parties are calling for the election to go ahead as planned, with shadow local government secretary James Cleverly accusing Labor of “subverting democracy”.
These new roles were announced under an extension of the government’s devolution priority program (DPP) in February, which promised “broad” powers for local authorities to accelerate growth and said new roles would be created “at pace”.
Britain’s deputy reform leader Richard Tice called the move a “deliberate and dictatorial cancellation of democracy.”
“There is a fear of how successful the reforms are being. They have been talking about these mayoral elections for years and years, they have been preparing,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
Meanwhile, Liberal Democrats local government spokesperson Zoe Franklin said the party would work to make next May’s vote go ahead, adding that “democracy delayed is democracy denied.”
And the Conservative candidate for Hampshire and Solent called the decision to delay them a “shame and an affront to democracy”.
“It’s clear that Labor is afraid to face the British public at the polls,” said Donna Jones.
The government had announced the original election date when it said in February that six new areas would join the PDP.
He said the plans were the “key to unlocking regional growth” and came after “political power has been hoarded in Whitehall” for “too long”.
But the body representing district councils warned at the time that the plans could cause “confusion” and argued that “mega councils” could undermine local decision-making.
Cumbria and the soon-to-merge Cheshire and Warrington triple councils were due to elect local mayors in May 2026, but both were delayed by a year.
The first was postponed in an attempt to save money, while the second was delayed due to concerns from local leaders.
