Nigel Farage has launched a campaign to “let the people vote” and claimed other parties are “terrified” of Reform as up to 18 councils could cancel May elections.
The Government has invited authorities to apply for this year’s local elections to be scrapped and is currently considering their responses.
Reform has launched a petition calling the decision a “disgrace” and has projected a hard-hitting message onto the side of the House of Commons with the slogan “Dictators Cancel Elections”.
Other slogans beamed onto Parliament by Reform include “Let The People Vote”, Britain is Broken” and “Britain Needs Reform”.
According to Reform, the councils affected include many of those where Reform is strongest, and the move is designed to protect the other parties.
Nigel Farage said in a party political broadcast: “We haven’t heard a big debate about this because both Labour and the Conservatives are terrified of the rise of Reform. This denial of our democracy is something that is fundamentally un-British and undemocratic.
“It shows how rotten the whole system is now in British politics.”
Reform’s “Let the People Vote” petition says: “I demand that the English County Council elections go ahead in full on May 1st.”
Councils known to have asked for May’s elections to be delayed include Derbyshire, Devon, East Sussex, West Sussex, Essex, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Kent, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Oxfordshire. Suffolk, Surrey, Warwickshire and Worcestershire, all county councils, as well as Thurrock and the Isle of Wight.
Local Government Minister Jim McMahon told the House of Commons: “A decision on the requests made by councils to postpone local elections will be made in due course, recognising the need to give confirmation as soon as practically possible.
“As set out in my letter of 16 December, these requests will only be considered where it is clear that postponement will help the area to deliver reorganisation and devolution to the most ambitious timeframe.”
The potential delay is because many areas are set to create regional mayors with elections in May 2026, the Government says.
