Purpose

A petition entitled Stop Cancellation of
2026 Southend election was tabled at Council on 9 July 2025.
The petition calls on Southend-on-Sea City Council (the Council) to
provide assurances that it remains committed to holding the
scheduled local elections in May 2026 and will not seek a deferral
for these from central Government.
 

Content

That the petitioner be requested to note that
the Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Infrastructure and
Corporate Strategy provides reassurance to the petition organiser
through the publication of this decision record that no processes
to seek or secure the postponement of the May 2026 Local Elections
in Southend have been initiated by the Council.
 

Reasons for the decision

The petition ‘Stop cancellation of 2026
Southend election’ ran from 3 March to 8 May 2025 and
received 183 signatures.
 
The petition calls on the
Council to provide assurances that it remains committed to holding
the scheduled local elections in May 2026 and will not seek a
deferral for these from central Government. It also references the
decision by Essex County Council to postpone its 2025 local
elections due to devolution arrangements and expresses concern that
Southend could face a similar outcome.
 
The concerns raised by
petitioners relate to the preservation of democratic rights and the
importance of maintaining regular electoral cycles.
 
The Council is elected
“by thirds” (i.e., one third of the councillors elected
at a time), with every fourth year being a “fallow”
year where local elections do not take place.
 
2025 was a fallow year for
Southend, and elections in thirds are planned for 2026 as per the
normal electoral cycle for Southend.
 
Any request to postpone
Southend’s elections for 2026 would require an order from the
Secretary of State before the year of any election could be
changed.
 
In July 2025, the Council voted
on the resolution to “not request any unnecessary delay,
postponement or cancellation” to elections in
2026.
 
On 18 December 2025, the
Minister of State for Local Government and Homelessness, Alison
McGovern MP, wrote to council leaders in local government
reorganisation areas with elections in May 2026. Her letter invited
councils to set out their views on the potential postponement of
their local election in May 2026 and whether doing this would allow
them to better deliver local government reorganisation.
Representations were requested to be submitted by 15 January
2026.
 
On 21 December 2025, the Leader
of the Council publicly confirmed that he would not be responding
to the invitation to request postponement outlined in 3.8 of this
report, and that 2026 elections would proceed as
scheduled.
 
At an Extraordinary meeting on
12 January 2026, the Council confirmed it wishes for the local
elections to proceed, as planned, and take place in May 2026 and
therefore not make any representations to Government for the
cancelation or postponement of elections.
 
The Leader of the Council has
taken into account the requests made in the petition and can
confirm that the Council remains committed to undertaking its local
election in 2026 as planned, in accordance with the statutory
timetable and electoral regulations.

Alternative options considered

As there is a precedent for postponing local
elections when devolution and local government reorganisation is in
progress, the Council could decide to make representation to
government asking it to consider postponing its 2026 local
elections.
 
This would have necessitated the formal
submission of a letter of representation to the Secretary of State
by midnight on 15 January 2026.