Deputy leader Richard Tice told The i Paper that opposition parties are “petrified” of Reform’s chances of success at the local elections – scheduled for 1 May.
English councils involved in Labour’s regional devolution plans have until 10 January to request a local election postponement.
In cases where Rayner does permit local election delays it is understood she will argue they were necessary to avoid confusing voters while the authority in question undergoes reorganisation. Reform has now argued the move represents a plot to thwart its electoral fortunes following the growth in the party’s membership that saw it overtake the Conservative Party during the Christmas break.
The Government has not confirmed which local elections will be postponed to allow for restructuring.
“My hunch is that, of the 2,240 English seats due to be up for grabs, I’d be surprised half actually take place,” the businessman-turned-politician added.
Another leading Reform figure suggests the delay could be presented as a decision to help prepare for the local authority shake-up while helping some councils avoid an election battle with her party.
Former Tory MP Andrea Jenkyns defected to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK to stand as the party’s mayoral candidate in Greater Lincolnshire (Photo: Leon Neal/Getty)Lincolnshire is one of six new mayoralties being planned by Labour – a race Reform believes it can win, not least because voters in the county elected Tice as the MP for Boston and Skegness at last July’s general election.
“If a local council – Labour, Liberal Democrat or Tory – recommends to the Government that they should postpone their local elections, then there will be a lot of push back against them,” Jenkyns told The i Paper.
Conservative Councillor Martin Hill, the leader of Lincolnshire County Council, said he was “anticipating the county council elections to be held as planned in May”.
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner revealed the possibility that some of May’s local elections could be postponed as she revealed the government’s devolution plans in mid-December (Photo: Phil Noble/WPA Pool/Getty)
“No decisions have been taken,” said the MHCLG spokesman. “We will only consider postponing elections for areas where the council concerned has requested it and where it helps an area to deliver reorganisation and devolution to the most ambitious timeline.”
It is understood that Rayner will permit election postponements in councils that are restructuring through the Government’s Devolution Priority Programme or where reorganisation is necessary to unlock devolution or open up new devolution options.
In May 2021, local elections in three English counties were postponed until May 2022 as a result of a local authority restructuring by the then-Conservative Government.
The Local Government Association, which represents the interests of councils in England and Wales, declined to comment.
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