High Court to hear Reform’s challenge on cancelled council elections
Reform UK’s legal challenge against the UK government over plans to delay local elections is set to go to a two-day trial next month.
The case focuses on the government’s plan to allow 63 councils to postpone their local elections that were scheduled for May 2026. So far, more than a third of local authorities in England (27) have asked to postpone their elections until 2027.
The move relates to Labour’s plans to scrap the two-tier system of district and county councils. Instead, it wants to create a swathe of new authorities responsible for delivering all local services.
Nigel Farage’s party launched a judicial review against the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government over the plan to allow councils to delay elections.
The party argues that this delayed process discourages candidates from standing and undermines democratic election campaigns.
The parties appeared at a hearing on Tuesday, where Reform sought interim relief to prevent the government from making any immediate changes to the election dates.
However, Mr Justice Chamberlain agreed to a very fast legal timetable, with a rolled-up hearing planned for 19 February. At this two-day hearing next month, the High Court will decide whether Reform UK has a valid legal argument to bring the case and, if so, render a final verdict.
Reform UK must notify all 63 councils affected by the potential delay by today.
Labour ‘denying democracy’
In response to today’s court order, a Reform UK spokesperson said: “We said we would fight Labour every step of the way on this and we are. Labour are disgracefully trying to deny democracy. We are determined to win this case next month.”
While a spokesperson for the government said: “This is an ongoing process and no decisions have been made yet over any delays. There is a clear precedent for postponing local elections where local government reorganisation is in progress, as happened between 2019 and 2021.”
“These are exceptional circumstances where councils have told us they’re struggling to prepare for resource-intensive elections to councils that will shortly be abolished, while also reorganising into more efficient authorities that can better serve local residents,” they added.