Why are so many English councils delaying elections and why is it controversial?

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"About a third of eligible councils are expected to postpone their elections in May, affecting millions of voters. The government is carrying out an overhaul of local government structures and many merging councils lack the capacity for reorganisation. However, plans to delay local elections have triggered claims from opposition parties that Labour is scared of the voters."

Independent journalists cover issues from reproductive rights and climate change to Big Tech, investigating finances and producing documentaries that spotlight American women fighting for reproductive rights. The outlet emphasizes the importance of parsing facts from messaging and maintains paywall-free access, relying on donations from those who can afford to support quality journalism. About a third of eligible councils are expected to postpone local elections in May as the government overhauls two-tier authorities into single unitary councils by 2028. Some 63 council areas signaled they lacked capacity for reorganisation, with 28 seeking to delay ballots until 2027, prompting opposition claims that Labour fears the vote.

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