Four mayoral elections due to take place in May 2026 are set to be postponed by two years, Sky News understands.
Elections for the new mayoralties of Essex, Hampshire and the Solent, Sussex and Brighton, and Norfolk and Suffolk will be pushed back until 2028.
The decision, first revealed by The Sun, is due to be announced by ministers on Thursday.
This is the second time elections are being delayed in these areas. Local elections due in May 2025 were delayed by then communities secretary Angela Rayner for a year in order to convert them into combined authorities led by mayors.
However, it is understood that these councils need more time to complete their reorganisation.
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The news has sparked accusations Labour are delaying the elections for political purposes.
Reform UK’s head of policy Zia Yusuf said: “This is a blatant attempt to stop big Reform wins next May.
“It’s an act of a desperate government who are clinging onto power by any means necessary.
“Labour has proven time and time again that they’re not beyond denying democracy to millions of people in order to maintain their cosy status quo.”
The Tories’ shadow housing secretary James Cleverly said it was a “scandalous attempt to subvert democracy by a Labour government whose credibility and popularity are already in tatters”.
“The Conservatives firmly oppose this decision to delay the mayoral elections, especially when candidates have been selected and campaigning is well under way,” he added.
“Democracy is being denied yet again after the council elections cancelled by Labour this year.
“There is no credible justification for this move. The Labour government must reverse it immediately.”
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The reorganisation is part of Labour’s manifesto commitment to widen devolution, which it argues will improve local economies.
The government wants to abolish the two-tier system of county and district councils and merge them together to create larger unitary authorities. It also wants more areas to have regional mayors, like Greater Manchester’s Andy Burnham.
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Reform UK enjoyed success in the local elections in May, winning more than 600 seats and taking control of 10 councils stretching from Kent to County Durham. The party also toppled a 14,000-strong Labour majority in a parliamentary by-election.
The Liberal Democrats’ local government spokesperson Zoe Franklin called the postponed elections “a disgrace”.
“Democracy delayed is democracy denied,” she added. “We are fighting to end this blatant stitch up between Labour and the Conservatives over local elections.”
