(Picture: Rex /Getty)

Local and mayoral elections due for May have been postponed for a year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

It is thought voters would have gone to the polls at the peak of the UK outbreak if they were allowed to go ahead. Boris Johnson’s move comes after the Electoral Commission advised delaying the May 7 elections until autumn to ‘mitigate’ the spread of Covid-19.

A Government spokeswoman said: ‘We will bring forward legislation to postpone local, mayoral and police and crime commissioner elections until May next year. We will also work with the devolved administrations to ensure that they have the necessary powers to do the same.’



Among the postponed contests is the 2020 London Mayoral election, which incumbent Sadiq Khan hopes to win for the second time.


London Mayoral election candidate Rory Stewart called Boris Johnson’s move the ‘right decision’ (Picture: Getty Images)

So far 798 people have been diagnosed with Covid-19 in the UK (Picture: EPA)

Independent candidate Rory Stewart said it was the ‘right decision’ and urged the country to ‘move more rapidly’ to close schools and cancel large gatherings to fight the outbreak.

He called for a longer isolation period for patients and to restrict non-essential visits to care homes, whose elderly residents are particularly vulnerable to the deadly airborne virus.

As of today 798 people in the UK have tested positive for coronavirus, with the country’s death toll reaching 11.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan tweeted: ‘The Government has taken the decision to postpone the May elections for a year.

‘I will continue to work with the Government and experts to help London manage coronavirus over the weeks and months ahead.

‘I will always do everything in my power to stand up for London.’

The UK coronavirus death toll has now risen to 11 (Picture: Jeff Moore)

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has vowed to work with the Government and experts to tackle the spread of coronavirus in the capital (Picture: PA)

The Labour Party had previously called for the elections to be postponed in a letter to the Electoral Commission, who backed delaying the contests.

Its General Secretary Jennie Formby said the party ‘always want democratic processes to continue as much as is practical and safe’, but in light of public health concerns the primary focus for council staff as we head towards the peak of the outbreak should be on providing essential public services.

The letter added: ‘We share your concerns about the ability of local authorities to deliver the elections in advance and on the day, at the same time as continuing to manage vital services that will have increased pressure on them due to the coronavirus.

‘We also have serious concerns about the health and wellbeing of our staff and members who would be campaigning in the run up to 7 May. As such, we have today advised our Constituency Labour Parties to cancel all campaigning and meetings.’

The party pointed out that elections in 2001 were postponed because of the foot and mouth outbreak and said coronavirus ‘is a far more serious situation affecting human health’.

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