Nigel Farage fumed during his show on GB News over Labour’s “monstrous” to delay four mayoral elections across England.
Elections for newly-created mayors in Essex, Norfolk & Suffolk, Hampshire & the Solent, and Sussex & Brighton were meant to take place next May.
But they have been delayed until May 2028 because Labour has claimed it requires more time to reorganise local Government.
In a scathing tirade against Sir Keir Starmer, Mr Farage described the plan as “outrageous”.
Speaking on the People’s Channel, he said: “I do my very best to make sure this show is as objective as possible. We have guests from all opinions, but I’m never afraid to give my view.
“Tonight’s first debate, I would admit, I have a very heavy vested interest in and that is the mayoral contests that were due to go ahead.
“There was going to be a mayoral contest in Suffolk and Norfolk combined, in greater Essex, in Sussex and Brighton…and in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.
“Reform did announce their candidates just two days ago, and we fancied our chances in all of them.”
Nigel Farage fumed at the decision to delay mayoral elections
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GB NEWS
Nigel said: “Now look, I am not happy about this at all. I think it’s outrageous. I think it’s monstrous.
“And as I was told by a very senior figure of an Essex council this morning, ‘we are ready for these elections, we have prepared for these elections and across the county and or greater Essex, we’ve already spent many millions of pounds’…
“Here’s the odd thing, though, these counties will now be asked to vote in local elections in 2026, 2027 and 2028 and I just think the voters are going to get very weary and very confused.
“So my argument is, have a mayor in place. If that’s what we have to do, have a mayor in place to explain to people what the process is.”
Earlier, Sir Keir Starmer denied that he was ‘cancelling democracy’
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He added: “John Cryer makes the point very well that actually you can’t avoid spending money on this and making sure elections go ahead, are all part of almost of a social contract, of us having confidence.”
Earlier, when the Prime Minister was quizzed on whether he was “effectively cancelling democracy”, he adamantly railed against the idea.
“There are various arrangements being put in place to ensure all the elections could take place at the right time, depending on the configurations of the council and other arrangements,” Sir Keir Starmer clarified.
However, plenty of top Reform bosses cast doubt on Labour’s justification. In fact, latest polling in the areas that will be affected have revealed Reform candidates would have won each mayoralty.
In the same places, Labour’s electoral projection is far from the same shiny victory.
YouGov’s latest constituency-level polling, mapped onto the area covered by the brand new Essex “mayoral combined county authority”, Reform UK would lap up 34 per cent of the vote share, The Telegraph has found.
The People’s Army found similar success in Norfolk and Suffolk, projected to win 34 per cent.
Their success was less prevalent in Hampshire and the Solent, where their vote share sat slightly lower on 27 per cent, with the closest race being in Sussex and Brighton, with Reform only taking a quarter of the vote.
The Liberal Democrat candidate for the region has been estimated to be hot on the populist party’s heels on 22 per cent.