Kemi Badenoch will not stand in the way of Conservative-led councils seeking to delay next year’s local elections, a Conservative Party spokesman confirmed on Sunday, as debate intensifies over the Labour government’s sweeping postponements of scheduled mayoral contests across England.
Of the 63 councils required to inform the government by January 15 if they wish to move the May elections, nine are under Conservative control. East and West Sussex County Councils—both run by the Tories—have already signaled their intent to request a delay.
“Kemi is the Conservative Party leader, but she respects local Conservative Council leaders,” the spokesman said. “She has been clear that she wants the local elections to go ahead, but it is ultimately a decision for local Council leaders.”
The issue of election timing has gained renewed urgency following Thursday’s announcement that four major mayoral elections—covering Essex, Hampshire and the Solent, Sussex and Brighton, and Norfolk and Suffolk—will be postponed until 2028. The Labour government argues the move will allow time to transition toward new combined authorities as part of its devolution agenda.
But the delay has drawn fierce criticism from senior Conservatives who accuse Labour and now Kemi Badenoch of staging “another attack on democracy.” On GB News, former minister Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg condemned the postponements in a blistering monologue, comparing Labour’s actions to those of authoritarian regimes and warning of a dangerous precedent.
“The Labour Government has committed another attack on democracy after weeks of budget leaks, attempts to reverse Brexit and introducing digital ID. Today, it announced that four mayoral elections set for May of next year will be postponed until 2028 by which time the voting system will have changed,” Rees-Mogg said.
He pointed out that more than 7 million voters—around 10% of the UK electorate—reside in the affected areas. “That is 7 million people denied a democratic voice … Isn’t that wonderful? ‘Elections have to take place at the right time’. Do you think that means at the right time when he [Sir Keir Starmer] can win them? Has he become the Kim Jong Un of British politics, only hold elections when you’ve stuffed the ballot boxes in advance?”
Rees-Mogg argued that delaying elections is only acceptable under dire circumstances—such as the World Wars, the 2001 foot and mouth disease outbreak, or the Covid-19 pandemic—when cross-party agreement exists. “Delaying elections in the absence of a national crisis is quite improper, particularly if there isn’t cross party support, because it simply suggests a government that is frightened of voters.”
Polls recently published by Electoral Calculus give further fuel to claims of political motivation. In each of the four regions, the Reform Party, led by Nigel Farage, is polling above Labour, sometimes by a significant margin: “In Essex, Labour is on 14% and Reform over double on 29. In Hampshire, Reform is on 31% again, more than double Labour on 14%. Norfolk and Suffolk, 14 for Labour, 36 for Reform, and in Sussex and Brighton, 16 for Labour and 29% for reform,” Rees-Mogg noted.
“So it’s not only the cancelling of the vote, but it’s also using this extra two years to change the voting system from first past the post to a proportional system, which would make it harder for Reform, but is better for Labour’s lefty friends,” he said. “Because of course, it’s frightened of suffering an electoral collapse.”
Rees-Mogg cast the government’s postponement strategy as an attempt to shield Starmer and Labour MPs from damaging election results, and linked the actions to broader suspicions about Labour’s attitudes toward national and EU-level democracy. “Disdain for democracy is a fundamental characteristic of socialism—more government, less individual liberty, removal of the means to voice dissent.”
He concluded: “These council elections are merely the latest example.”
Representatives for Labour have rejected claims that the delays are politically motivated, insisting the postponements are necessary for a smooth and effective transition to the new devolution structures. Sir Keir Starmer’s spokesperson refused to apologize when challenged by journalists, stating that Number 10 will “strive to meet the 2028 timeframe”—but did not guarantee the target date.
As council leaders weigh whether to push for delayed local contests in their own areas, the democracy debate shows no sign of cooling—setting the stage for a year in which Britain’s voting timetable, and the principles behind it, face unprecedented scrutiny.
