The chairman of Reform UK Southampton has issued an open letter demanding urgent clarification on the future of the city’s local council elections, voicing what he describes as a growing sense of anxiety among local residents over the risk of postponement for a second consecutive year.
This public appeal comes after news broke that seven English councils are considering not holding elections in May 2025—a move that, in the words of Reform UK Southampton, sets a “dangerous precedent” in local democracy. With Hampshire County Council now seeking to shelve their own elections for a second year running, uncertainty has been felt particularly strongly in neighbouring Southampton, where residents are already grappling with the larger upheaval of pending Local Government Reorganisation and possible changes to council boundaries.
In the letter, the Reform UK Southampton chairman directly addresses Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood MP, Local Government Minister Alison McGovern MP, Southampton City Council, and leaders from all major parties. His message is clear: residents want reassurance that there are no plans to postpone the 2026 city council elections, and they want this confirmation sooner rather than later. He warns that any move to further delay elections “brings democracy into disrepute” and erodes public trust, especially following the recent wave of cancelled and deferred election dates across the country.
The chairman asks those with the power to decide Southampton’s electoral fate to rule out any suspension or postponement of elections next year. He also calls on each party to publicly commit that if elections are postponed, all councillors who would have faced re-election should resign, given that their mandate will, in effect, have expired. Beyond that, he urges swift and transparent communication with the public about when elections might next be held, to avoid the sense of drift and confusion that has already become apparent.
Emphasising the importance of local democracy, he writes, “The people of Southampton deserve clarity within their local government structure, to have the right to vote and decide on who governs their city and that mandates for elected officials are treated seriously. To do none of these things is to bring democracy into disrepute and to encourage the ongoing crisis of apathy among the electorate.”
The open letter puts pressure on both local and national figures to commit publicly to upholding the democratic rights of Southampton’s citizens. For now, campaigners and residents wait for answers that could shape the city’s political future—for better or worse.
