Cross-party county councillors have called for Hampshire’s local elections to go ahead as planned in May 2026, rejecting a government proposal to delay them by a year.

At an extraordinary full meeting of Hampshire County Council on January 12, members from across the political arena said postponing the elections would go against the wishes of residents and urged ministers to make a clear decision and stop “messing around”.

Liberal Democrat councillor Jackie Porter said the overriding priority was protecting residents’ democratic right to vote.

She said: “The Labour government has asked to postpone the county elections again, and our answer is clear: we want the county elections to go ahead in 2026.”

Independent group leader Cllr Andy Tree said delaying elections for anything other than a major crisis would be highly unusual.

Cllr Tree said: “Democracy is sacred and elections must go ahead.

“I would only ever want to be a councillor because people have chosen to elect me, not because elections are cancelled. Voters across Hampshire deserve to elect councillors of the party of their choice.”

The debate centred on the government’s concerns about councils’ capacity to run elections alongside Local Government Reorganisation (LGR).

In a letter to councils, local government and homelessness minister Alison McGovern said some authorities had raised worries about delivering a “smooth” and “safe” transition to new councils while also running “resource-intensive” elections for bodies that “may shortly be abolished”.

The letter noted that previous governments had postponed elections in areas undergoing reorganisation to allow councils to focus their time and resources on the process.

However, Cllr Tree urged the council’s leadership to reject that argument.

“I implore cabinet members to support the May 2026 elections and for the leader to make it crystal clear that we do have the capacity for those elections to take place,” he said.

Other councillors echoed those concerns. Cllr Keith Mans said the decision ultimately lay with central government, not the council.

Cllr Mans said: “It’s pretty disingenuous of the government to ask us whether we should postpone the elections when it’s their decision, not ours.

“They should get on, make the decision and stop messing around.”

Cllr David Harrison warned against extending councillors’ terms without public consent, and said that he was elected to serve a four-year term, “not five or six”.

“We govern only with the consent of the people who vote. Not one of us has the right to continue beyond May without the endorsement of the electorate. People must have their say.”

Conservative councillor Gavin James went further, saying he would resign his seat on March 1 if elections were postponed again, forcing a by-election on May 7.

“So we can all have elections anyway, regardless of what the government says,” he told members.

Councillors voted in favour of a Conservative amendment formally recommending that the elections should not be postponed.

Council leader Cllr Nick Adams-King said he would do everything possible to ensure the elections take place as scheduled.

He added: “This looks like an attempt by a government scared of the electorate to avoid results they fear.

“I don’t fear that result. I may not even be standing here in future, but that is the choice of the people.”