The Government’s u-turn on reinstating elections across 30 local authorities shows just how “rash and reckless” last year’s decision was to cancel polls in Surrey, opposition councillors said.

In 2025, residents were told elections in Surrey should be axed because councils needed time to focus on merging into two mega authorities.

But the Government has since written to the High Court to set out its position “in light of recent legal advice” – the one brought against the decision to delay polls by Reform UK leader Nigel Farage.

In a letter to the affected chief executives, Steve Reed, secretary of state for housing, communities and local government, wrote: “I recognise that many of the local councils undergoing reorganisation voiced genuine concerns about the pressure they are under as we seek to deliver the most ambitious reforms of local government in a generation.”

It means all local elections in May 2026 will now go ahead.

Councillor Paul Follows, leader of the Liberal Democrat group at SCC opposed the postponement in 2025 saying it robbed people of their democratic right and left in place dozens of unmandated councillors.

He said: “I am sure those areas will welcome the chance to have their democratic rights restored and to have their say on the various proposals for local government reorganisation in those areas.

“Surrey of course will not be one of them, due to the rash and reckless actions of Conservative-led SCC.

“They have jumped into the unknown, exposed most of the county to significant debt and discord in the process with barely a plan of their own – joined at the hip on this subject to a Labour government that seemingly are abandoning their own plans on a daily basis.”

Surrey County Council wrote to the Government last January to take up the offer of delaying its own elections. It argued this would give officers the time to focus on merging with its boroughs and districts.

They added that spending millions on an election only to then dissolve the entire council within a year or two would be a waste of time and money.

Asked what has changed since then and whether its decision in Surrey was still correct, the ministry gave a stock reply that declined to answer questions put to it.

It said that, in the case of Surrey, last year’s elections to the county council and six of the district councils are being replaced by elections to the two new unitary councils.

The decision is in relation to the postponement of 30 local council elections, and is separate from the decision which impacts Surrey.

The ministry declined to add anything further.

Tim Oliver, Leader of SCC said: “In Surrey we remain focussed on delivering a smooth transition for devolution and local government reorganisation and we are gearing up for local elections in May as planned.

“Last year, we were confirmed on the Government’s accelerated programme and elections were postponed for one year so that the necessary preparatory work could take place at pace.”