County has highest number of reinstated elections following decision not to delay them for 30 English councils
Labour figures in the county with the highest number of reinstated council elections, following the government’s recent U-turn, have said they fear the party will be “annihilated” when voters go to the polls in May.
The polls had expected to be postponed pending a reorganisation of local government in the county and a move to unitary authorities, but earlier this week the local government secretary, Steve Reed, scrapped plans to delay the elections, after Reform UK threatened a legal challenge.
Currently two councils, Blackburn with Darwen and Blackpool, are already unitary authorities, while the other 12 districts are two-tier and sit under Lancashire county council.
With the government’s U-turn, seven councils will now have elections they had not expected in May; Burnley, Blackburn, Hyndburn, Pendle, Chorley, West Lancashire and Preston – an area with nearly 790,000 people – meaning the county will have more unexpected elections than any other. A total of 30 local authorities will now hold elections in May when they had not expected to, meaning almost a quarter of those are in Lancashire.
