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Labour figures in the county with the highest number of reinstated council elections, following the government’s recent U-turn, have said they fear the party will be “annihilated” when voters go to the polls in May.
The polls had expected to be postponed pending a reorganisation of local government in the county and a move to unitary authorities, but earlier this week the local government secretary, Steve Reed, scrapped plans to delay the elections, after Reform UK threatened a legal challenge.
Two councils, Blackburn with Darwen and Blackpool, are already unitary authorities, while the other 12 districts are two-tier and sit under Lancashire county council.
With the government’s U-turn, seven councils will now have elections in May they had not expected; Burnley, Blackburn, Hyndburn, Pendle, Chorley, West Lancashire and Preston – an area with nearly 790,000 people – meaning the county will have more unexpected elections than any other. A total of 30 local authorities will now hold elections in May when they had not expected to, with almost a quarter of those in Lancashire.
At last year’s county council election, Reform took control of the authority, winning 53 out of 84 seats. Labour was left with just four councillors.
The government had said ahead of that election that local polls could be postponed if an authority set to disappear under the reorganisation approached the government, but no such request was put forward by the county council.
“I was surprised by the announcement, as previously a precedent was set when Lancashire county council offered to postpone their elections, so it would have been no different,” one senior councillor said. “It will now cost the taxpayer millions of pounds in elections which in most cases will be for a year.”
However, they said they understood “the decision was reviewed in light of new information and legal advice” and said “we work all year round, not just at elections, so we’re ready”.
They added that it was “important to adapt when circumstances change”, saying “democracies have no price”.
One senior Labour figure in Lancashire described the situation as “a proper shit show”, and said “we are going to get annihilated in East Lancs”.
The insider also predicted a “100% Reform” clean sweep when elections are held for the new Lancashire unitary authorities. “Unless Jesus H Christ turns up as our new leader with Virgin Mary as deputy,” they said, the party was looking at a “Labour wipeout”.
However, some council leaders have been more supportive of the government – albeit while standing by their original decisions to postpone the votes.
“We recognise the high bar that should be placed on postponing local elections and shared the concern with other authorities that conducting local elections in May 2026 would mean that vital services for residents, along with the local government reorganisation process, could be affected,” Alistair Bradley, the leader of Chorley council, said.
“We do, however, recognise that it is a government decision, and will move forward in preparation for an election in May as directed.”
“On balance, we thought it was proportionate to suspend elections and prepare for next year, because we do have capacity issues,” Matthew Brown, the leader of Preston council said. “We did think we’d struggle.”
The government’s U-turn, he said, “was unexpected, but we actually quite relish the fight now”.
“In terms of taking the fight to Reform UK and others, we’re really looking forward to getting stuck in,” he added.
Another Labour source said they believed the party would lose control of West Lancashire council, where it holds a narrow majority.
“Honestly, I think it will fall into no overall control, which doesn’t help anybody,” they said. “I hope there isn’t a backlash [as a result of the U-turn], but this is just one more thing that adds to the complete disillusionment out there at the minute.”
Councils are expecting to have to spend more than £100,000 in running the elections in 11 weeks’ time; however, local councillors said the greater impact would be on the resource of officers.
Afrasiab Anwar, the leader of Burnley council, who quit Labour in November 2023 over its position on the war in Gaza, criticised the “complete chaos” from the government and backed calls for ministers to publish the legal advice that led to the U-turn.
“I cannot identify any compelling justification for maintaining legal privilege in this instance, particularly given that it concerns the fundamental right to vote.”
Anwar said he expected both Reform UK and independent candidates to unseat Labour councillors in Burnley in May: “It’s not just down to the one U-turn – when you look at the polls, you couldn’t imagine how bad this government was going to be. Every promise has been broken.”
In Pendle, Labour no longer has any councillors after several left the party over its stance on Gaza. David Whipp, the council’s Lib Dem leader, said he feared the latest government climbdown would deepen voters’ “disillusionment and disenfranchisement”.
All seven of the Lancashire councils where elections are going ahead are due to be abolished in 2028. They are due to be replaced by bigger authorities – combining 14 councils into between two and five bodies. Ministers are expected to announce the makeup of the new larger authorities in July.
