The bar should be set 'very high' for local councils postponing votes at the ballot box, the head of the Electoral Commission has warned. Chief executive Vijay Rangarajan has spoken out against the decision to allow 30 local councils to delay elections due to have taken place in May despite warnings the move is 'almost certainly illegal'. Communities secretary Steve Reed said polls could be postponed to free up resources for a costly shake-up of local government. Some 21 of the councils involved are currently controlled by Labour - more than two-thirds of the total. But shadow communities secretary Sir James Cleverly accused him of political 'cowardice', while Nigel Farage has branded the decision the act of a 'banana republic'.

Source: Daily Mail February 14, 2026 11:13 UTC