Farage to initiate legal action regarding postponed elections

Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, has announced plans to mount a legal challenge against the Governments decision to postpone mayoral elections scheduled for May. The delay affects over five million voters in southern and eastern England, who will now be unable to cast their ballots in these areas.

The Government cited the need for local authorities to have additional time to merge under a devolution plan aimed at granting regions more autonomy and funding. However, Zia Yusuf, Reform UKs policy director, criticized the move as an attempt to prevent significant electoral victories for the party.

Recent polls in the impacted regionsincluding Greater Essex, Hampshire and the Solent, Sussex and Brighton, and Norfolk and Suffolkindicated a strong lead for Reform UK candidates. Farage stated: We are initiating a judicial review against the Government over another delay in elections where Reform is favored. Efforts to cancel more votes than last year must be legally challenged.

The announcement coincides with Reform UK welcoming its first member of the House of Lords following a Conservative defection. Lord Offord of Garvel, a former minister in the Scotland Office and ex-treasurer of the Scottish Conservatives, joined the party during a rally in Falkirk. He emphasized the goals of ousting the Scottish National Party and promoting a positive vision for Scotland within the UK.

Polling data suggests that in Greater Essex, Reform UK would secure 34% of the vote, more than 10 points ahead of the Conservatives. In Norfolk and Suffolk, the party also polled at 34%, while in Hampshire and the Solent the support was 27%. In Sussex and Brighton, Reform UK was projected to take 25%, narrowly leading the Liberal Democrats.

Reform UK intends to pursue the judicial review with advice from a Kings Counsel (KC) on the legality of the postponement, including whether proper statutory procedures were followed and whether the decision breached legitimate expectations or procedural rules. The review will also consider potential violations of the Human Rights Act concerning the right to free and fair elections.

The delay, announced by former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, aims to create combined authorities led by mayors with enhanced powers and budgets, replacing existing district councils with unitary councils. These changes are part of the Governments broader devolution and local government reorganization plan.

Despite the postponement, Reform UK made significant gains in the previous council elections, winning over 600 seats and controlling 10 councils, including Kent and Lincolnshire.

A Government spokesperson defended the reforms, highlighting the aim of returning control to local communities and investing 200 million annually in regional development. They criticized Farages legal challenge as unnecessary and disruptive, emphasizing the benefits of reorganized local governance before elections proceed.

Author: Ava Mitchell