2026 elections

Dozens of councils have been told by Westminster they can postpone their elections this year. But why? And what does this mean for voting across Greater Manchester?

The Government announced yesterday that it has given 29 local authorities permission to not hold their scheduled election this year, extending the terms of councillors with seats on them from the standard four years to five. The delayed vote is linked to plans to streamline council structures in some parts of England.

Areas with two tiers of councils – for example where there is a county council and a district or borough council both delivering local services to the same communities – will see these reduced to a single-tier set up under the plan known as Local Government Reorganisation (LGR). The Labour Government believes the changes will cut waste, duplication and confusion, save money and speed up decision making, by bringing responsibility for all services under one roof.

The 29 councils who have been permitted to push back their local elections by a year are all undergoing LGR. The Government has said they “provided sufficient evidence on how postponement would release capacity” to “help deliver” their restructure. 

A total of 34 other councils involved in LGR will still be holding elections this year. A full list of the postponed votes can be found below.

All of Greater Manchester’s 10 councils – Manchester City, Bury, Bolton, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford and Wigston – are due to go to the polls this year. Each puts up one third of their seats each year for reelection, with a year off in the fourth year. 

Those votes are all still scheduled to go ahead on Thursday, May 7, as no part of Greater Manchester is involved in the LGR process and reorganisation is not required locally. 

One area of Greater Manchester will also see an additional vote this year. A parliamentary by-election now needs to be arranged for the Tameside seat of Gorton and Denton after MP Andrew Gwynne announced yesterday that he would be stepping down on health grounds.

The news has renewed speculation that this could pave the way for Andy Burnham’s Westminster return and a potential leadership bid against prime minister Sir Keir Starmer. The Greater Manchester mayor has not yet confirmed whether he intends to try for the seat, however.

Should he ultimately end up standing for Parliament, this would in turn trigger a vote for who would next take the top job at the Greater Manchester Combined Authority. As it stands, however, there is no mayoral vote in the calendar for this year for the Greater Manchester Combined Authority. 

This is because the mayor is voted in every four years, with Mr Burnham last reelected to the position in May 2024. The next expected election for this, then, would be in 2028.

All of the councils where elections will be postponed
Adur District Council 
Basildon Borough Council 
Blackburn with Darwen Council 
Burnley Borough Council 
Cannock Chase District Council 
Cheltenham Borough Council 
Chorley Borough Council 
City of Lincoln Council 
Crawley Borough Council 
East Sussex County Council 
Exeter City Council 
Harlow District Council 
Hastings Borough Council 
Hyndburn Borough Council 
Ipswich Borough Council 
Norfolk County Council 
Norwich City Council 
Peterborough City Council 
Preston City Council 
Redditch Borough Council 
Rugby Borough Council 
Stevenage Borough Council 
Suffolk County Council 
Tamworth Borough Council 
Thurrock Council 
Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council 
West Lancashire Borough Council 
West Sussex County Council 
Worthing Borough Council