New mayoral elections in four areas delayed

Mayoral elections in four new devolved areas are likely to be delayed from 2026 until 2028, according to the government.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) said today (December 4) that it was “considering moving” inaugural mayor elections for Greater Essex, Hampshire and the Solent, Norfolk and Suffolk and Sussex and Brighton to May 2028.

This, it said, would allow these areas more time while they reorganised their local councils “into stronger unitary authorities to create simpler, more effective structures that can better support mayors’ powers”.

This process was taking place before mayors took office, MHCLG said, with new unitary councils in the areas expecting to be established in 2028.

Two other new mayoral areas - Cheshire and Warrington and Cumbria - which have unitary councils already in place, will go ahead with mayoral elections in May 2027 “as planned”, although this is also a delay from May 2026 after both areas requested postponements.

In February, MHCLG said the six areas, confirmed as part of the government’s “fast-track” Devolution Priority Programme, would have mayors elected “by” May 2026.

It also announced today that the six mayoral areas would share almost £200 million of …