BREAKING NOW: Democracy crisis deepens as a High Court judge allows Reform UK to challenge Keir Starmer over the scrapping of elections across 30 councils. The clock is ticking.
Massive blow for Keir Starmer as court rules Reform can challenge election delays
A High Court judge has ruled that Reform UK can challenge Labour’s decision to scrap elections for millions of Britons
The news is a major boost for Reform (Image: Getty)
A High Court judge has ruled that Nigel Farage and Reform UK can press ahead with a major legal challenge objecting to Keir Starmer’s latest elections delay. The legal showdown has now been scheduled for February 19 and 20, when Reform will issue formal objections to millions of Britons being denied a vote.
30 local councils have now accepted the government’s offer to delay this year’s elections, taking the vote from nearly four million Britons. Announcing the legal challenge last week, Mr Farage said the potential delay is “outrageous”. According to polling experts, Reform UK would have wiped out the Labour Party if the votes went ahead.
Mr Farage blasted: “29 councils have now officially asked for local elections to be delayed. That’s 3.9m people across 591 council seats who will lose their right to vote in May.
“The establishment are terrified because they know Reform would win.”
Polls last week suggested Reform would storm to victory in the councils that have delayed their elections, coming first with 28.3% of the vote to the Tories’ 20.7% and Labour’s 17.4%.
This morning top Labour minister Darren Jones insisted it would be too “costly” for the votes to go ahead, amid a major restructuring of local councils.
Mr Jones said: “We’re not frightened of democracy. Councils themselves were able to request a delay, a short delay, to their elections, if they’re going through a reorganisation. And a number of councils have asked for that.
Mr Jones said: “We’re not frightened of democracy. Councils themselves were able to request a delay, a short delay, to their elections, if they’re going through a reorganisation. And a number of councils have asked for that.
A Reform UK spokesman said: “We said we would fight Labour every step of the way on this and we are. Labour are disgracefully trying to deny democracy. We are determined to win this case next month.”
A spokesman for the Department for Local Government insisted: “Some initial reporting on this highly charged issue has been entirely wrong and misleading.
“Today the court gave a date on which it would consider this challenge. Nothing more than that. An injunction was applied for, but was not granted so there is no block in place.”
