Havant Borough Council (HBC) intends to go ahead with elections in May 2026 as planned, despite the government giving the council the option to delay until 2027.
The Minister of State for Local Government and Homelessness wrote to councils taking part in the Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) programme on 18 December, giving them the option to postpone their elections scheduled for 7 May 2026, to focus their resources on LGR.
After consideration, HBC’s Cabinet has decided to continue with elections on 7 May 2026, as planned.
In each ward, the elected councillor who received the fewest votes in the 2024 Local Borough Elections will be up for re-election in 2026. You can see the results of the 2024 election here:
Election results | Havant Borough Council
Leader of Havant Borough Council, Councillor Phil Munday, said: “We welcome the recognition from government that it is challenging for councils such as Havant to hold an election whilst also planning for LGR alongside delivering our core services to residents.
“However, we’ve taken a proportionate approach to LGR in Havant and worked closely with our neighbouring authorities to share the workload and collaborate where possible.
“We recognise how important it is to our residents to be able to vote so we will go ahead with next year’s elections as planned.”