The election of the Sussex and Brighton mayor has been delayed from this year’s local elections to 2028. The newly formed Sussex and Brighton Combined Authority is one of four new administrative areas being created and having their mayoral elections delayed two years. The frontrunners for Sussex are: Police and Crime Commissioner for Sussex and Conservative Katy Bourne, Reform UK’s Paul Linehan and Green Party Co-Deputy Leader Rachel Millward. However, with the delay comes uncertainty as to the actual candidate selections in two years.
The decision to delay elections is solely up to the Government. Local Government Secretary Steve Reed, speaking to ITV, mentioned the “technical challenges” in restructuring local authorities as the reason for setbacks.
However, opposition parties have pointed out the potential impact of record-low polling for Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party on their action. According to the pollster, Find Out Now, Labour have hit as low as 14% voting intention in recent weeks. In these polls, their rating puts them behind Reform UK, the Conservatives and even the Green Party.
The highest polled party listed, Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, were quick to attack the delays as an attempt to stop “big Reform wins”, according to The Independent. In December 2025, they reached a height of a 15-point lead over the Conservatives in another Find Out Now poll. This is on top of their huge successes in last May’s local elections, with Reform winning 677 seats, 10 councils and two mayors.
There was also criticism from the Electoral Commission. “Scheduled elections should as a rule go ahead as planned, and only be postponed in exceptional circumstances … This uncertainty is unprecedented and will not help campaigners and administrators who need time to prepare for their important roles … we do not think that capacity constraints are a legitimate reason for delaying long planned elections,” said Vijay Rangarajan, chief executive of the Electoral Commission.
The idea behind reorganisation, according to the Government, “will cut the number of councillors, and bring critical services like housing, planning and roads under one roof to speed up decision making in key areas like housebuilding. As a result, residents will receive better, more efficient public services, freeing up cash to be invested in local priorities.” Going ahead with elections in authorities which are undergoing restructuring, “risks diverting scarce resources — staff, money and time — away from frontline services and the work needed to create stronger, more accountable local government”.
However, the savings of merging authorities were calculated by a lobby group, not by the Government themselves. The County Council Network (CCN) now says that no savings will be made, and could cost more, according to the BBC. In their own statement, the CCN stated, “Splitting county councils into multiple small unitary councils could hit millions of vulnerable people with a triple whammy of worse services, higher costs for care, and not enough staff to deliver support.”
In recent weeks, both East and West Sussex County Councils, as well as Adur, Hastings and Worthing Borough Councils, have all requested to postpone their 2026 council elections, according to the BBC. The main reason supports the Government’s position on restructuring authorities facing threats to “stability and finances”; they are expected to make a decision by March. Local elections are scheduled for 7th May.
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