Full list of West Midlands council elections to go ahead in May as government abandons plans to postpone Cannock Chase vote

Local Government Secretary Steve Reed had approved proposals to delay the polls to help deliver a major reorganisation of local authorities.

But in a letter to council leaders on Monday, the Cabinet minister said the Government had written to the High Court confirming he was withdrawing the decision to delay the ballots “in light of recent legal advice”.

Some £62 million will be made available to local authorities undergoing structural changes, he said.

Mr Reed added: “My officials will be in touch with those affected councils to understand if any further practical support will be required.”

The Government has agreed to pay Reform UK’s legal costs after the party challenged the initial decision to postpone the votes.

Following the U-turn, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said that “providing certainty to councils about their local elections is now the most crucial thing”. Cannock Chase was among those set to be postponed. 

Nigel Farage said the Government’s decision on Monday was a victory for Reform UK, saying in a post on X: “We took this Labour government to court and won.”

In a court order published in January, Mr Justice Chamberlain said the party was seeking an order temporarily blocking the Government from changing the date of forthcoming elections pending the hearing of the full legal challenge.

Reform UK had asked the court to determine the full claim before the end of March, when notices of election are published.

Another hearing had been set for Thursday.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch described the reversal as “predictable chaos from a useless Government that cannot make basic decisions”.

“Even the simple stuff that should be business as usual gets messed up,” she said.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said the Government had been “forced into a humiliating U-turn” and should be stripped of its power to “cancel elections on a whim”.

“That is why the Liberal Democrats have brought forward an amendment to change the law, stripping the Government of this power and ensuring that the public’s voice is protected by statute, not left to the whims of ministers,” he said.

Here is a full list of authorities in our region holding elections on Thursday May 7 2026:

The local authorities where elections were due to be postponed, but where an election is now taking place, are marked with an asterisk (*).

District councils

• Cannock Chase*

Metropolitan boroughs

• Birmingham

• Dudley

• Sandwell

• Walsall

• Wolverhampton