NEARLY four million voters face disenfranchisement this May as the government moved to cancel more local elections.

More than a third of councils in England due to face the electorate have asked for their polls to be scrapped under the pretext of local government reorganisation.

Most of the authorities seeking to dodge the electoral bullet are Labour-led, with the party facing massive losses on present polling.

Local Government Secretary Steve Reed is expected to approve the applications for cancellation from 27 local authorities, including East and West Sussex counties and cities, such as Norwich, Exeter, Peterborough and Preston.

He wrote in The Times: “Running a series of elections for short-lived zombie councils will be costly, time-consuming and will take scarce resources away from front-line services like fixing potholes and social care.”

Ministers are pushing through a restructuring of local government in England, consolidating many councils across larger areas, to be placed under regional mayors with devolved powers.

The government claims it is too challenging for councils to deal with this transition and hold elections at the same time. The new bodies will hold their initial election in 2027 or 2028.

Tories, Liberal Democrats and Reform have all condemned Labour’s move as anti-democratic, although the former two parties are in charge in some authorities seeking to put off the vote.

Reform is likely to seek a judicial review of the decision.