A RELEASE issued today (Wednesday, 14 January) confirms that Essex County Council will not be asking the government to postpone or cancel countywide elections in May 2026.

A letter to Local Government minister Alison McGovern, who asked councils in Essex to give their views on capacity to manage elections and plan for local government reorganisation (LGR) at the same time, mirrors the view expressed by Basildon and Thurrock Councils in recent days.

Those two councils gave reams of detail about how capacity would be affected but fell short of asking for the elections to be called off.

With a lot less detail in the public domain, the leader of Essex, Cllr Kevin Bentley, has done a similar thing.

The Essex statement says: "This letter makes clear that the council will not be requesting Essex County Council elections scheduled for May 2026 are postponed."

However, the letter does touch on the impact elections will have on LGR planning and Cllr Bentley says now it is up to the Labour minister to make a decision.

This is the letter in full:

Yesterday Southend City Council stated it will not be asking for elections to be called off with Labour leader Cllr Daniel Cowan saying: "This council will be having elections; this council has never considered cancelling elections."

An extraordinary meeting of Thurrock Council, called by Reform and independent members, will be held tonight to debate options that might be used to ensure elections take place in the borough.