Nigel Farage has secured a stunning legal victory against the Labour government, as he forced Keir Starmer into a humiliating u-turn over plans to delay local elections for millions of Britons. Ministers announced that Local Government Secretary Steve Reed had decided to withdraw his decision to postpone 30 council elections this May, "in the light of recent legal advice".
Reform UK had been set to formally challenge the decision in court, amid unprecedented warnings from the head of the UK elections watchdog. In a statement from the department, Mr Reed said he had invited a junior minister to "reconsider the position afresh on a very urgent basis. The House Minister has decided that the elections should proceed in May 2026."
On top of being forced into the humiliating U-turn, the Government will now have to pay Reform UK's legal costs, which one party source told the Express could run into six figures.
Responding to the news, Nigel Farage said: "We took this Labour government to court and won.
"In collusion with the Tories, Keir Starmer tried to stop 4.6 million people voting on May 7th.
"Only Reform UK fights for democracy."
Polling experts had forecast that Reform would have won hundreds of seats in the councils set to be delayed this May, offering the party a fresh opportunity to give Keir Starmer a bruising at the ballot box.
Last month, fresh research from JL Partners said Reform would have won big in the 30 council areas that will now go ahead as planned.
They found that Mr Farage's party is set to take 28% of the vote, beating both the Tories' 21%, Labour's 17%, and the LibDems' 15%.
Following the U-turn announcement, a spokesman for the elections department said: "Following legal advice, the Government has withdrawn its original decision to postpone 30 local elections in May.
“Providing certainty to councils about their local elections is now the most crucial thing and all local elections will now go ahead in May 2026.”
It's understood that the government will now take the necessary steps to revoke legislation in parliament that would have delayed the elections, and have written to all councils telling them to now press ahead with the votes.
The Tories' Shadow Local Government Secretary Sir James Cleverly blasted: "I’ve always said these elections should go ahead. Steve Reed’s credibility is now completely gone.
"This botched cancellation & U-turn will have cost local government £millions, I don’t think this funding will cover those costs.
"Labour is a joke."
The Taxpayers' Alliance said taxpayers will be "hugely relieved" that their right to vote for councillors has been restored.
But spokesman Elliot Keck added: "It should have never come this far.
"Millions of voters were not just facing cancelled elections, but also the double injustice of increased council tax despite a complete lack of a democratic mandate.
“Ministers should still bring in new guidelines making clear that were any elections to be cancelled in future, for any reason, there would be a mandatory freeze on council tax and any other charges.”
The full list of councils that had been set for a delay, but will now go ahead, are:
