As many as 10 million Britons could be denied the chance to vote in May’s crunch local elections.

Across the UK, 29 councils have either announced delays or have yet to formally decide whether to press ahead – with 21 of them run by Labour.

Just four local authorities under the control of Sir Keir Starmer’s party have confirmed they will not postpone ballots, while 17 are still yet to decide, one week out from a January 15 deadline.

By contrast, only two Tory-run authorities will delay a vote, along with a single Liberal Democrat council.

While it is anticipated that the majority of councils will not delay elections, Labour-run quartet Preston, Chorley, Hyndburn and Blackburn with Darwen have already done so.

All four are areas where Reform UK is surging in the polls.

A recent poll in Hyndburn revealed Nigel Farage’s party was rating at 39 per cent, while Labour was sat adrift in third with just 16 per cent.

Mr Farage has accused Labour of postponing the votes to save the party from electoral humiliation.

“This is the kind of outrageous behaviour you expect from a banana republic. Labour is damaging our democracy,” he said.

A spokesman for the Liberal Democrats fumed: “The Government’s actions mean that 10 million people could see their democratic right to an election this May, and choice over who governs them locally, ripped away.

“We’re calling on the Government to reverse course and take these proposals off the table.”

And the Tories have accused Labour of “denying democracy and running scared of voters” because the party knows it is “in for a pasting at the ballot box”.

The Prime Minister has denied the locals represent a “referendum” on his Government.

“I was elected in 2024 with a five-year mandate to change the country, and that’s what I intend to do,” he told the BBC.

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Labour hits out at ‘pointless speculation’ and defends postponing elections in official response

In response to reports that millions of Britons could be denied a vote in May, a spokesman for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: “This is pointless speculation about a process that is still far from complete.

“So far, we’ve only had responses from less than half of the councils due to hold elections this year.

“These areas are in the best position to judge the impact of postponements on their area, and this government will listen to them.

“There is a clear precedent for postponing local elections where local government reorganisation is in progress, as happened between 2019 and 2021.”

EXPLAINED: Why are elections being ‘cancelled’?

Elections are being pushed back this year under sweeping plans to reorganise local Government, first announced by Angela Rayner when she was Communities Secretary.

Ministers are pushing to scrap district councils and merge them with county councils to create new, larger unitary authorities which provide all services.

There are currently 204 councils in 21 parts of the country undergoing reorganisation – with 63 of these set to hold elections this May.

Under the changes, some elections would be scrapped this year before they are held for the new, bigger authorities in May 2027.

These elected councillors would run the new authorities in shadow form until they become fully operational in 2028.

The old county and district councils would stay in place until they are formally abolished in 2028. County councillors were last elected in 2021, meaning they would end up serving for seven years instead of the traditional four.