Three Sussex councils are successful in bid to have May elections postponed

West Sussex County Council is also among the 29 English councils which successfully asked for the May elections to be pushed back.

Local Government Secretary Steve Reed told the House of Commons he had approved delays until 2027.

"The government intends to postpone this year’s local elections in Sussex so that councils can concentrate on pushing ahead with local government reorganisation (LGR),” a spokesperson for Adur and Worthing Councils said, on Friday (January 23).

"Steve Reed, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, has today written to us to say he’ll be introducing legislation to postpone the elections that are due to be held in May for Adur District Council, Worthing Borough Council and West Sussex County Council.

“In total, the government has said the elections for 29 councils across the country will be postponed, after it asked council leaders if that would help free up essential resources needed for LGR.”

In Adur, 14 seats are due to be contested in May, along with 13 in Worthing. The government has said that the existing councillors in these wards will have their terms extended.

Elections to the new unitary councils in Sussex are expected to take place in May 2027, with the new councils expected to be up and running in April 2028.

After council leaders in Adur and Worthing suggested postponing local elections in 2026, the Worthing Conservative group’s leader Kevin Jenkins said: "It seems that 2024 will go down in history as the last recorded elections to Worthing Borough Council.

"The delay to the 2026 elections is in effect, a cancellation. 2026 will go as the year that true local democracy for Worthing Borough Council died, leaving a Labour administration clinging to power in Worthing and squatting in their town hall bunker with no public mandate for their actions."

In response, the Worthing Labour Group said: “It's disappointing to hear the Worthing Conservatives continuing to play politics about such an important matter. Local Government Reorganisation is the biggest overhaul of local government here for 50 years and the view that postponement of elections in Sussex would support effective reorganisation to take place aligns with all other councils that have elections due in Sussex this May – including Conservative-controlled West Sussex County Council.”

Adur Green Party said it ‘strongly opposes’ the decision of Labour-led Adur Council to seek postponement of district elections in May 2026.

The party said it ‘rejects the arguments’ for postponement and believes that there should be ‘business as usual’ and that the residents of Adur should have the opportunity to choose their local representatives.

Julian Shinn, leader of the Green group on the council said: “These elections are part of the normal election cycle in Adur and allow people to approve or change their ward representatives.

"These elections are held routinely and run by an experienced team. This is as much a role of the council as clearing bins or making planning decisions. The bottom line is that we’re all losing the right to vote – a right for which people fought and died.”

In December, Alison McGovern – the Minister of State for Local Government and Homelessness – wrote to all local authorities in England which are involved in the biggest change to local government in 50 years. This will see councils across the country reorganised, in a bid to improve services and increase efficiency.

The minister invited the leaders of Worthing Borough Council and Adur District Council to set out their views on the potential postponement of local elections in their areas, and if they believed it would enable LGR to progress more effectively, with a deadline of midnight on Thursday, January 15.

Worthing Borough Council held an extraordinary meeting of the full council on Tuesday (January 13). Members had the chance to give their views on the government’s request.

After receiving a report from the council’s chief executive on what the impact of elections could be on essential capacity, members voted in favour of writing to the minister to say that postponing elections could release essential capacity to deliver LGR.

Councillor Sophie Cox, the leader of the council, wrote to the minister to express that view.

Cllr Cox said: “Since receiving your letter on December 18, this matter has been considered in detail, reflecting both the strength of feeling locally and the scale of the change being undertaken and what would be in the best interests of all residents in Worthing.

“We remain deeply committed to local democracy. However, if elections proceed in May 2026, those elected would likely serve a truncated term of less than two years, with Shadow Authority elections for the new Unitary in May 2027. There is a risk that such a short electoral cycle could create uncertainty for residents during a period of structural change. Aligning the next election with the establishment of the Shadow Authority would provide greater clarity and a full-term mandate for those elected to shape the new arrangements.

“There are also financial considerations, particularly for a council such as Worthing that is in receipt of Exceptional Funding Support. The likely postponement of West Sussex County Council and Adur District Council elections creates the possibility that any election held in 2026 would be a standalone poll for Worthing, with the full cost falling on local taxpayers and this extra funding required would be unbudgeted.”

Similarly, the leader of Adur District Council, councillor Jeremy Gardner, wrote to the government – suggesting that postponing the 2026 elections would free up capacity needed for LGR. New unitary councils are to be created, replacing districts such as Adur.

He said: “This is a once in 50 years opportunity to reshape and improve local government. There is a potential to create councils that can better work with communities to transform services, improve lives and support business. The successful development of new unitary authorities depends on the work and the contribution of senior officers and councillors from councils such as Adur.”

Mr Gardner said proceeding with elections in 2026 ‘would require significant senior leadership time’, during the election campaign and following the election – ‘drawing capacity away from critical LGR planning’.

He added: “Postponement would allow us to direct this essential capacity towards the complex legal, constitutional and transformational work required for a successful transition.

"This requires decisions regarding assets, constitutions and service models. With the ministerial decision on the size and geography of the local unitary authority expected in March 2026, the following months will require significant and immediate efforts to establish new governance arrangements, transition plans and undertake vital staff and stakeholder engagement.

“Elections are a fundamental cornerstone of local democracy. They provide residents with a direct and meaningful way to influence decision-making and hold their local representatives accountable.

“It is my view that the benefits to Adur of a successful transition to a new council, bringing together services and serving the community, outweigh the benefits of scheduled elections in May for councillors in the final period of Adur District Council.”

The council leaders pointed towards the fact local government reorganisation is complex and, with a new footprint expected for new unitary councils in March, Adur and Worthing would face a pre-election period that restricted decision making at exactly the wrong time.

As county council and borough council elections are funded jointly, they also noted that if elections to West Sussex County Council are postponed for 2025 but Worthing’s are not, the councils will face an extra financial burden when it is already struggling financially. Crawley Borough Council, Hastings Borough Council and West Sussex County Council have taken similar positions, meaning Adur and Worthing could have been the only areas in Sussex holding elections in May.

An extraordinary meeting of the full council was held in Worthing after conservative councillors’ request for a requisition was accepted.

Ahead of this, a spokesman for the Conservative group said there appeared to have been a ‘deliberate attempt at side stepping of this issue’ by the Labour council.

"If we hadn't called this meeting, then councillors would not have had the opportunity to debate this matter, and the public would not have had the opportunity to attend the meeting and ask questions,” Mr Jenkins said.

"I would like to thank the 50 plus persons who attended the Town Hall and asked questions of Cllr Cox and listened to the debate.

"It did get a bit raucous at times, but that was simply our residents expressing their frustration at this Labour council and government that simply aren't listening to them.”

The government said it would listen to the views of council leaders who have expressed capacity concerns about running local elections this year.

Steve Reed considered whether orders should be made to allow the postponement of council elections for one year in certain areas, on a case-by-case basis.

To read the full text of councillor Cox’s and councillor Gardner’s letters to the minister, visit www.adur-worthing.gov.uk/devolution/.