Local Elections: Cancellation

Lord Bassam of Brighton Excerpts

Wednesday 21st January 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

The Secretary of State wrote to four councils following the responses that came in on 15 January because it was not clear from their responses whether they were requesting a postponement. That is why there was a short-term deadline for them to reply on that specific issue. The Secretary of State is now considering all the views provided before he makes the final decision, and he will make that decision as quickly as possible. He is very aware of the timetable needed for elections.

[Lord Bassam of Brighton (Lab)]

Does the Minister agree that there seems to be some form of collective amnesia on the Benches opposite? I well recall, as an employee of the Greater London Council, that the 1985 local elections in Greater London, Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, Merseyside, the West Midlands, et cetera were all cancelled for the political convenience of the Government at the time, without particular reference to democracy. They just believed that they were in the right in getting rid of those councils, and that was simply it.

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

My noble friend is quite right to say that there is a precedent for cancelling elections. I have been involved with local government for a very long time. At many times in the past, there has been tinkering at the edges of reorganising local government. If we do not reorganise local government, it will not be sustainable for the future. This is the biggest reorganisation of local government for over 50 years. We have asked the councils, if they wish to postpone their elections, to let us know about that. We are now considering their responses.