After yet another U-turn by Keir Starmer’s increasingly beleaguered government – reinstating elections in 30 councils which it had previously cancelled – it is now possible to compile a definitive list of where council elections will take place this year, on May 7th, alongside the contests for the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Senedd.
Every autumn, for over a decade now, the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) has produced a directory of where council elections will be held the following spring as a resource for local campaigners and last October we did so again. But, as we said then, it was very much a provisional directory and exactly where elections would take place was unclear, and “won’t become so until February or even March, just weeks before polling day”. Now, however, there is clarity, and the new, final directory is available at https://www.tusc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Elections-directory-2026-FINAL.pdf
Get organising
Clive Heemskerk, the TUSC National Election Agent, said: “Now that the final list of where elections are being held is clear, the task of organising the biggest possible presence of socialists on the ballot papers must be urgently stepped up. The official deadline for getting candidates’ nomination papers into councils’ Electoral Services departments is April 9th – just seven weeks away”.
“One other thing that has been clarified is that the number of local election candidates needed to meet the broadcast media’s threshold for a legally prescribed ‘fair media coverage’ – including party election broadcasts, coverage of a manifesto launch, participation in regional debates etc – is 830, one in six of the council seats up for election”.
“With the anger at the establishment politicians so palpable, is it inconceivable that individual trade unionists, anti-war protestors, community campaigners, and members of different socialist organisations – including those participating in the formation of Your Party – couldn’t reach that figure?”
“Of the 136 councils with elections on May 7th, 73 are currently led by Starmer’s Labour Party, with just under 2,200 Labour councillors up for re-election. With no deposits needed to stand for a local election seat, the question is: why couldn’t YOU be on the ballot paper to help build an alternative to the establishment parties?” ■
A Guide for Candidates and Agents in the 2026 Local Council Elections is available as a downloadable PDF at https://www.tusc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/2026-Guide-for-Candidates-Agents.pdf