Local elections to go ahead in Plymouth in 2026
Its after the Government asked councils to consider whether to postpone elections in areas affected by Local Government Reorganisation
Last updated 22nd Dec 2025
Plymouth City Council have confirmed that local elections in the city will go ahead in 2026.
Its after Government asked councils to consider whether to postpone elections in areas affected by Local Government Reorganisation.
Councillor Jemima Laing, Acting Leader of Plymouth City Council, said: “The Local Elections will be going ahead in Plymouth in May 2026.
“Last week, the Government wrote to councils inviting them to consider whether postponing elections might be appropriate in areas affected by Local Government Reorganisation (LGR). We recognise that this may be the right approach for some councils facing capacity challenges due to LGR; however, this is not the case for Plymouth.
“We are already well advanced in our preparations for the May 2026 local elections and plans are firmly in place. Therefore, the elections will proceed as scheduled.”
Plymouth Green Party has responded to the confirmation that elections for Plymouth City Council will go ahead as planned in May 2026.
Leader of the Green Group on Plymouth City Council, Cllr Lauren McLay, said:
“We welcome Plymouth Labour’s confirmation that our local elections will go ahead next May. However, it was wrong of the government to table the postponement of local elections, and more concerning that Cllr Laing herself said this was something the administration had to 'consider'.
“The outcome of Plymouth and Devon’s local government reorganisation is not expected until next summer, so there was never any justification for even contemplating cancelling elections scheduled for May 2026.
“While setting the foundations for a potential new authority is undoubtedly a significant task, Plymouth City Council still has vital work to do right now: tackling homelessness and child poverty, maintaining infrastructure, addressing long EHCP decision timeframes, protecting our natural environment and delivering genuinely social and affordable housing. Voters have every right to judge how well the Labour-led council is performing on these issues at the ballot box next May, and I’m glad residents will be given the option to vote Green to deliver real change, and hope, for Plymouth.”
Co-chairs of Plymouth Green Party, Bran Malloch and Jess Duffy, added:
“The attempt to put the cancellation of local elections on the table is the latest deeply concerning move from a Labour government that appears increasingly willing to undermine democratic norms. When set alongside recent efforts to restrict the right to protest and proposals that would weaken the right to trial by jury, it paints a troubling picture of a government steadily eroding civil liberties rather than strengthening them.”