In arguably its most embarrassing U-turn yet, the Labour Government has abandoned plans to delay thirty council elections in England following legal advice.
Steve Reed, who has served as the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities, and Local Government since last September, had initially approved the delaying of ballots to help facilitate a major reorganisation which would involve the abolition of some local authorities.
In response, Nigel Farage’s Reform UK had launched a legal challenge against the government’s plan to delay the elections, which was scheduled to be heard in the High Court later this week.
Responding to the news, Farage posted on X that “in collusion with the Tories, Keir Starmer tried to stop 4.6 million people voting on May 7th” and that “we took this Labour government to court and won”.
There is no doubt that Labour is incredibly vulnerable across many of the thirty local authorities where a pause in voting was originally planned.
Among the currently Labour-controlled local authorities, those in the provincial West Midlands, such as Cannock Chase in Staffordshire and Redditch in Worcestershire, will be eyed up by Reform as the party looks to park its teal tanks on these red lawns.
It is also worth keeping an eye on Tamworth, a Labour-controlled Staffordshire borough with a traditionally strong sense of English identity. Reform will also be confident over sweeping up votes in my home region of Eastern England – especially when it comes to local authorities in Essex such as Basildon and Harlow, where they won a by-election last May.
Thurrock is also one to watch out for, with Reform UK already enjoying its fair share of electoral success there at the local level.
U-turning on plans to cancel local elections is the coup de grâce for Keir Starmer - Rakib Ehsan | Getty Images
Meanwhile, the news that Labour has abandoned plans to delay the thirty council elections will also be music to the ears to England’s ever-strengthening political movement of local Muslim independents.
Under Starmer’s leadership, British Muslim voters have been deserting the Labour Party in their droves. While Israel-Gaza was the straw that broke the camel’s back, a growing number of British Muslims have grown increasingly disillusioned with the lack of economic opportunities, shortage of decent affordable housing, underperforming public services, and anti-social behaviour in their traditionally Labour-controlled areas.
In addition to this, the mainstream cultural liberalism of the current-day Labour Party is a world away from the relatively socially conservative beliefs held by British Muslims.
The forthcoming local elections in Blackburn with Darwen, Burnley, Pendle, and Preston could see a spectacular Muslim-independent surge in Lancashire at the expense of Labour – and best to keep an eye on some inner-city parts of Peterborough in Cambridgeshire too.
Things are about to get much worse for the Labour Government from an electoral perspective – the question is how long Starmer can cling on to the leadership of his party and place at No 10.