A Reform mayor has lambasted Labour’s “rubbish” reasoning to postpone local elections in 63 areas in 2026 after the party attempted to justify its decision.
The move, which denies almost five million voters the chance to cast their ballot next May, would impact councils across Britain, notably in many areas where Reform are projected to win.
Joining Camilla Tominey, the Mayor of Greater Lincolnshire Andrea Jenkyns told the host: “So it’s a load of rubbish.
“This is because they fear Reform, but I’m also disappointed that Kemi [Badenoch] hasn’t come out and said that she believes in democracy.”
The Government has insisted its decision was for the purpose of giving itself more time to reorganise local government with a set of sweeping reforms as outlined in its 2024 manifesto.
But Ms Jenkyns’ criticism has echoed that of the Electoral Commission, whose chief has said that he does not believe Labour’s justification was a “legitimate reason” to put off the elections.
In a statement, Vijay Rangarajan, the commission’s chief executive, said: “As a matter of principle, we do not think that capacity constraints are a legitimate reason for delaying long-planned elections.
“Extending existing mandates risks affecting the legitimacy of local decision-making and damaging public confidence.
The Greater Lincolnshire Mayor added she was ‘disappointed’ in Kemi Badenoch
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“There is a clear conflict of interest in asking existing councils to decide how long it will be before they are answerable to voters.”
Sir Keir Starmer and his Cabinet have been dragged through the mud for the decision, with many arguing that the postponement would be an assault on democracy.
With a total of 63 local authorities impacted, 26 are Labour-run while 12 are led by the Tories.
Local Government Minister Alison McGovern wrote to council leaders of the impacted authorities asking if they wish to delay their elections.
Local Government Minister Alison McGovern wrote to council leaders last week
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Ms McGovern said: “If you voice genuine concerns about your capacity, then we will take these concerns seriously.
“To that end, the Secretary of State is only minded to make an order to postpone elections for one year for those councils who raise capacity concerns.”
The authorities have been handed a deadline of January 15 if they wanted to put off the election until 2027.
“I’ve got a Conservative-controlled North East Lincolnshire Council,” Ms Jenkyns told Camilla. “We’ll find out in January whether they decide to cancel it.
“We’ve also got a Labour-controlled city of Lincoln, so let’s see what they do.
“Let’s see if they’re democrats or they try to subvert democracy for their own skin,” she finished.
Meanwhile, Mr Rangarajan said the short notice would spur on uncertainty amongst campaigners “who need time to prepare for their important rules”.
Last week, Reform’s frontman Nigel Farage blasted the delays, insisting Labour had devised the postponement to block Reform from storming to victory across local authorities, just as they did earlier in 2025.
The pollsters at YouGov have projected Reform would win 28 per cent of the voteshare. Labour and the Tories remain trailing behind the populist party on 18 and 17 per cent.