2026 mayoral elections to be postponed for two years – reports

Four inaugural mayoral elections that had been due to take place next May are set to be postponed until 2028, according to reports.

Elections for new mayors in Essex, Hampshire and the Solent, Sussex and Brighton, and Norfolk and Suffolk had been due to take place alongside devolved elections in Wales and Scotland next year.

However, it has been reported that ministers will announce a two year delay to the elections on Thursday, on the grounds that the councils need more time to complete reorganisation.

The elections had initially been due to take place in May this year, but were delayed by then-communities secretary Angela Rayner in order to convert the regions into combined authorities.

Had the elections gone ahead next year, it is likely all four would have been the last mayoral elections fought using the first-past-the-post system, with the government announcing plans to revert back to the supplementary vote system for mayoral elections from 2027.

Labour had selected candidates for all four mayoral contests; it is unknown whether nominations will be reopened closer to polling day in 2028.

The elections will now take place alongside mayoral elections in London, Greater Manchester, Liverpool, South Yorkshire, the West Midlands and West Yorkshire, amongst others.

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