Speaking to broadcasters in Scotland, Sir Keir Starmer was asked if the delays were effectively cancelling democracy.
He responded: “No, there are various arrangements being put in place to ensure all the elections could take place at the right time, depending on the configurations of the council and other arrangements.”
The new mayors are part of a simplification of local government, aimed at reducing the number of councils, by merging district and county authorities to create unitary authorities.
Groups of unitary authorities will be headed up by new mayors, who will be handed more funding and extra powers to run their area, intended to hand greater power to local communities.
However, the body representing district councils warned at the time that the plans could spark “turmoil” and argued “mega-councils” could undermine local decision-making.
Earlier this year, 18 councils requested a delay to their planned May elections due to incomplete reorganisation into eight unitary authorities – and critics are concerned the announcement of delays to mayoral elections could lead to further elections being cancelled.
In an urgent Commons question on the mayoral election delays, Conservative MP and shadow local government minister David Simmonds, said the decision had caused “a huge waste of public money for elections we are all ready for”.
In light of the mayoral delay, Simmonds asked whether council elections planned for next May could also be delayed.
“Elections are happening in 2026, we are cracking on with it,” Devolution Minister Miatta Fahnbulleh replied, insisting “we have been absolutely consistent” on local elections.
She added: “As a responsible government you would expect that if there were extenuating circumstances on the ground, in particular councils, we will have that conversation with them — but we are as up for elections as anyone else.”
On mayoral elections, she said it was “absolutely right” for the government to “take stock” of how far along in the process of reorganisation areas were but, “huge progress” had already been made on establishing the new authorities.
However, former local government minister, Jim McMahon, criticised his own government saying they needed to “be better”.
Also in the Commons, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage branded the reorganisation “a dog’s dinner” that the public “don’t understand”.
“You’re telling them you’re going to get rid of a district council that they know and understand and respect and replace it with a pretty amorphous unitary authority,” he said.
“So if that is going to go ahead, clearly it is – I don’t like it, but clearly it is – you need a senior elected figure and we need a mayor.”
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has said it is a “scandal” that local elections are being delayed when she was asked on a visit to a school in London.
The “excuse that it’s about local government reorganisations doesn’t wash”, she told broadcasters, adding the government has had “plenty of time to do this” and people “need their democracy”.
Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat local government spokesperson Zoe Franklin said the party would work to see the vote next May does go ahead, adding, “democracy delayed is democracy denied”.
And the Conservative candidate for Hampshire and the Solent called the decision to delay them a “disgrace and an affront to democracy”.
“It is clear Labour are afraid to face the British public at the ballot box,” Donna Jones said.
Green Party deputy leader and mayoral candidate for Sussex & Brighton, Rachel Millward, said people had the right to vote for mayors the government has promised them.
“Labour’s whole devolution agenda has fallen into utter chaos,” she said.
“They’re running scared of the voters and failing to solve the real problems in local government.”
