Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 17 November 2025 to Question 8777, on Local Government: Elections, whether local authorities which submitted bids to hold a May 2026 election pilot scheme subsequently submitted a request to the Department to cancel their May 2026 elections.

In August 2025, local authorities were invited to apply to pilot a range of flexible voting methods at the May 2026 elections in England.

A number of local authorities expressed interest in participating, and we are currently engaging with those local authorities. A small number of authorities that submitted applications subsequently made requests to postpone their May 2026 elections.