May 2026 local elections to proceed as normal

On 18 December 2025, the government wrote to councils with elections scheduled for May 2026 to offer the option to request a postponement to those elections. Councils were invited to write to government by 15 January 2026 if they wished to postpone their election and set out their views on the postponement of local elections if they considered it could release essential capacity to deliver local government reorganisation.



West Oxfordshire District Council will not be responding to the government invite and elections will therefore proceed as scheduled on 7 May 2026. 

Councillor Andy Graham, Leader of the Council, said:

“After receiving the letter from government we have done the necessary due diligence to check if there is any reason to request a postponement to the election.

“We are a well-run council and we are already in the advanced stage of preparedness for the elections. Local government reorganisation will require an enormous amount of work, however, that is well in hand with our partnership authorities who are working closely with us. As such, there is no practical reason to postpone the election and so we will not be responding to the government invite and elections in West Oxfordshire will take place as scheduled in May.
 
“Local elections are an essential part of our democracy and it is important we make sure residents have the opportunity to have their voice heard.”