Trailer - Local Elections May 2026

As of 16 February 2026, elections are scheduled for Thursday 7th May 2026 in all London Boroughs, 102 other English Local Authorities and 2 shadow new authorities.

Links on authority names are to LGBCE Final Reports on boundary changes, or to restructuring orders. ECO = link to Electoral Change Order.
* = complete re-warding. (F) change to full council elections.

6 County Councils (all-up)
East Sussex +
Essex * (ECO)
 Hampshire
Norfolk * (ECO)
 Suffolk * (ECO) +
 West Sussex
32 London Boroughs - all councillors
(M) - simultaneous Mayoral election
Barking & Dagenham
Barnet
Bexley
Brent
Bromley
Camden
Croydon (M)
Ealing
 Enfield
Greenwich
Hackney (M)
Hammersmith & Fulham
Haringey
Harrow
Havering
Hillingdon
 Hounslow
Islington
Kensington & Chelsea
Kingston upon Thames
Lambeth
Lewisham (M)
Merton
Newham (M)
 Redbridge
Richmond upon Thames
Southwark
Sutton
Tower Hamlets (M)
Waltham Forest
Wandsworth
Westminster
16 Metropolitan Boroughs - all-up
Barnsley (F) * (ECO)
Birmingham
Bradford * (ECO)
Calderdale * (ECO)
 Coventry * (ECO)
Gateshead * (ECO)
Kirklees * (ECO)
Newcastle upon Tyne * (ECO)
 Sandwell * (ECO)
Sefton * (ECO)
Solihull * (ECO)
St Helens
 South Tyneside * (ECO)
Sunderland * (ECO)
Wakefield * (ECO)
Walsall * (ECO)
16 Metropolitan Boroughs - one-third of councillors
Bolton
Bury
Dudley
Knowsley
 Leeds
Manchester
North Tyneside
Oldham
 Rochdale
Salford
Sheffield
Stockport
 Tameside
Trafford
Wigan
Wolverhampton
18 Unitary authorities - one-third of councillors except where indicated
Blackburn with Darwen
East Surrey (shadow, all-up)
Halton
Hartlepool
Hull
 Isle of Wight (all-up)
Milton Keynes (all-up) * (ECO)
North East Lincolnshire
Peterborough
Plymouth
 Portsmouth
Reading
Southampton
Southend-on-Sea
 Swindon (all-up)(F) * (ECO)
Thurrock (F) (ECO)
West Surrey (shadow, all-up)
Wokingham
48 Second-tier districts - one-third of councillors except where indicated
Adur (one-half)
Basildon
Basingstoke & Deane
Brentwood
Broxbourne
Burnley
Cambridge
Cannock Chase
Cheltenham (one-half)
Cherwell
Chorley
Colchester
 Chorley
Eastleigh
Epping Forest
Exeter
Fareham (one-half)
Gosport (one-half)
Harlow
Hart
Hastings (one-half)
Havant
Huntingdonshire (all-up)
Hyndburn
 Ipswich
Lincoln
Newcastle-under-Lyme (all-up)
Norwich
Nuneaton & Bedworth (one-half)
Oxford (one-half)
Pendle
Preston
Redditch
Rochford
Rugby
Rushmoor
 South Cambridgeshire (all-up)
St Albans
Stevenage
Tamworth
Three Rivers
Tunbridge Wells
Watford (M)
Welwyn Hatfield
West Lancashire
West Oxfordshire
Winchester
Worthing
13 May 2022First draft.
13 Jan 2023Remove Wirral (now all-up 2023 etc.)
1 Apr 2023Remove Slough (now all-up 2023 etc.).
7 May 2023Sorted out that Scottish elections are this year (but see 30 May 2025 below).
13 May 2023Reviews commenced for South Tyneside and Sunderland.
25 May 2023Reviews commenced for Calderdale, Coventry and Gateshead.
30 Jun 2023Review commenced for Bradford.
4 Aug 2023Review commenced for Sefton.
21 Aug 2023Removed Derby (now all-up 2023 etc.).
30 Aug 2023Review commenced for Solihull and Walsall.
26 Sep 2023Review commenced for Kirklees. Removed Maidstone (now all-up 2024 etc.).
13 Nov 2023Review commenced for Barnsley.
27 Nov 2023Review commenced for Wakefield.
16 Jan 2024Review commenced for Swindon.
29 Jan 2024Reviews commenced for Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Thurrock.
1 May 2024Removed North Hertfordshire and Worcester - now all-up 2024 etc.
9 May 2024Review commenced for Milton Keynes. Final recommendations for Calderdale.
20 May 2024Final recommendations for Coventry.
9 Jul 2024Final recommendations for Gateshead and Walsall.
28 Jul 2024Review commenced for Sandwell.
3 Aug 2024Final recommendations for Sunderland. Review commenced for Colchester.
31 Aug 2024Review commenced for Portsmouth.
8 Sep 2024Review commenced for North East Lincolnshire.
24 Sep 2024Review commenced for Southend-on-Sea.
1 Dec 2024ECOs for Calderdale, Coventry, Gateshead and Sefton.
15 Dec 2024Final recommendations for Barnsley, Bradford, Kirklees, South Tyneside, Thurrock and Wakefield.
11 Jan 2025Remove Thurrock (now all-up 2025 etc.) Final recommendations for Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
5 Feb 2025 Elections in East Sussex, Essex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Norfolk, Suffolk, Surrey, Thurrock(!) and West Sussex postponed from 2025 pending reorganisation proposals.
9 Feb 2025Final recommendations for Swindon.
12 Feb 2025Reinstated Basildon, Basingstoke & Deane and Brentwood, which must have been accidentally deleted at some point in 2022/3.
24 Feb 2025ECOs for Canterbury, Thurrock & Walsall.
9 Mar 2025Final recommendations for Solihull.
14 Apr 2025ECOs for Barnsley, Bradford and Wakefield.
17 May 2025ECOs for Kirklees, Newcastle upon Tyne and Sunderland.
30 May 2025Scottish Councils moved to 2027.
9 Jun 2025Final recommendations for Milton Keynes.
12 Jul 2025ECOs for South Tyneside and Swindon.
19 Jul 2025ECO for Solihull.
6 Sep 2025Final recommendations for Sandwell.
18 Nov 2025ECO for Milton Keynes.
11 Dec 2025ECO for Sandwell.
20 Dec 2025Added East Surrey and West Surrey shadow councils. Re-warding has been paused in Colchester, North East Lincolnshire, Portsmouth and Southend-on-Sea, so the currect expectation is that these councils will elect 1/3 of their councillors this year.
22 Jan 2026Removed 29 authorities which the governement has announced will be postponed. Press release
4 Feb 2026Noted mayoral election in Croydon. Removed Castle Point and Rossendale (all-up 2024, 2028 ...). Barnsley is changing to all-up. Deleted Surrey and 6 Surrey districts which are obviously not happening. Removed Pendle as a late postponement.
16 Feb 2026Un-cancelled 30 elections!
24 Sep 2026Retrospectively note Swindon changed to all-up elections.

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