Sir Keir Starmer faced fresh humiliation on Monday after he was forced by Nigel Farage into abandoning his controversial plan to cancel elections for millions of people.
In the 14th major U-turn of the Prime Minister’s torrid time in office, his Government announced that it would after all press ahead with votes in 30 local councils in the face of a legal challenge by Reform UK.
The shock decision came less than two hours after Sir Keir insisted there would be no more embarrassing policy reverses.
It means town halls across the country now face a costly scramble to get polling stations and staff ready in time for May 7, less than three months away.
The Government has also agreed to pay Reform’s legal fees, estimated at £100,000, in the case after its lawyers appeared to concede that axing the elections would be ruled illegal in court.
And the decision may spell trouble for the Conservatives as well as Labour, as polling suggests Reform candidates will win many of the hundreds more council seats that will now be up for grabs.
On Monday, Mr Farage called on Communities Secretary Steve Reed to resign over the fiasco.
He told GB News: ‘They knew they were going to lose in the High Court, and that’s why I’m saying I think for the minister, Steve Reed, I mean, frankly, is this not a resignation matter?
Ministers have abandoned efforts to delay council elections in another extraordinary U-turn by Keir Starmer (pictured today)
Mr Farage branded the U-turn ‘a victory for democracy in this country’ and suggested Local Government Secretary Steve Reed, who only announced the delay last month, should resign
‘I think if a minister acts in a way that’s illegal and tries to cancel people’s democratic rights to vote whilst they’re still being charged their council tax, I personally think that it really is a resignation matter, yes.’
He went on: ‘You can look at Norfolk, and you can look at Suffolk, and you can look at East Sussex and West Sussex, and you can say, well, these are the Tory heartlands, but I think there’s going to be a degree of punishment voting going on when these elections happen. So I fancy our chances and all of those.’
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said: ‘This is a zombie government. U-turn after U-turn after U-turn. No plan or programme to deliver anything. Even the simple stuff that should be business as usual gets messed up.’
Insiders suggested a misinterpretation of the law was to blame for the blunder, which came just hours after the floundering Prime Minister dismissed the idea of more volte-faces in a live radio interview.
The Government has put aside £63million to help councils deal with the fallout from the chaotic reorganisation of town halls.
But furious councils questioned whether the abolitions and merging of authorities can still go ahead, complaining that ministers have failed to get a grip.
One Whitehall source said ‘hopefully’ the schedule can be maintained.
Labour insiders were in despair at the bungling, admitting the Government seemed to be engaged in ‘death by a thousand self-inflicted cuts’.
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Nigel Farage has called on Communities Secretary Steve Reed, pictured last year, to resign over the fiasco
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said the move represented a ‘zombie government’ following a succession of U-turns
A Ministry of Housing and Local Government spokeswoman 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.’
In a statement on X, Mr Farage said: ‘We took this Labour government to court and won.
‘In collusion with the Tories, Keir Starmer tried to stop 4.6million people voting on May 7th.
‘Only Reform UK fights for democracy.’
There has been a furious backlash to the delays, but the announcement still took Westminster by surprise.
A court hearing was due on Thursday, and Reform had demanded a ruling by the end of March.
Appearing on BBC Radio 2 just hours before the news broke, Sir Keir had been asked by presenter Jeremy Vine if the public can ‘be sure you will stick to your course now, after those U-turns?’.
The dramatic climbdown came after a legal challenge by Reform to the move to postpone votes for more than 4.5million people
The Ministry of Housing and Local Government confirmed the shift on Monday
The PM replied: ‘Absolutely. I know exactly why I was elected in with a five-year mandate to change this country for the better and that’s what I intend to do.’
Sir Keir is teetering on the brink after narrowly surviving a coup attempt last week.
But he has lost chief of staff Morgan McSweeney and communications director Tim Allan.
Cabinet Secretary Chris Wormald has also been ousted just 19 months after being handpicked by Sir Keir.
The departures – the latest in a string of high-profile casualties – have the premier looking dangerously isolated.
However, he looks set to cling on for the time being, with rivals not yet in a position to move.
The Electoral Commission had warned that the bar should be set ‘very high’ for local councils postponing votes.
Communities secretary Steve Reed had said polls could be postponed to free up resources for a costly shake-up of local government.
Some 21 of the councils that were involved are currently controlled by Labour – more than two-thirds of the total.
In some cases, the elections are being delayed for a second consecutive year creating ‘double delays’.
Four county councils – West Sussex, East Sussex, Suffolk and Norfolk – all fall into this category, with councillors elected in 2021 now set to serve seven-year terms.
Polls suggest Labour is on course to take a drubbing in this May’s elections, and the contests are widely seen as a litmus test of Sir Keir’s survival prospects.
Mr Reed had insisted the process for delay was ‘locally led’ – and said holding elections for councils that are due to be abolished could slow down vital reforms that will save money in the long run.
In a letter to council leaders today, the Local Government Secretary said: ‘I recognise that many of the local councils undergoing reorganisation voiced genuine concerns about the pressure they are under as we seek to deliver the most ambitious reforms of local government in a generation.’
Mr Reed said £63million would be made available to local authorities undergoing reorganisation.
He added: ‘My officials will be in touch with those affected councils to understand if any further practical support will be required.’
But Cllr Richard Wright, chairman of the District Councils’ Network, said: ‘Council officers, councillors and local electorates will be bewildered by the unrelenting changes to the electoral timetable.
‘Councils were assured by the Government that elections could be legally cancelled but now it seems ministers have come to the opposite conclusion. It’s the Government, not councils that have acted in good faith, which should bear responsibility for this mess which impacts on people’s faith in our cherished local democracy.
‘The councils affected face an unnecessary race against time to ensure elections proceed smoothly and fairly, with polling stations booked and electoral staff available.
‘If election cancellations were deemed necessary to free up capacity for local government reorganisation to succeed, councils will now be asking where this leaves the reorganisation timetable.
‘We need to have faith in the Government’s decision-making as we work on the biggest shake-up of councils in 50 years – but the Government is doing little assure us that it has a strong grasp of the huge legal complexity involved.’
Kemi Badenoch welcomed the shift and admitted some Tories who backed delays now looked ‘really silly’
