INTERESTING new polling by JL Partners shows that Reform UK would have “won” in Harlow District Council this May, where elections are due to be cancelled.

If the elections were to go ahead in Harlow, Reform would win 30 per cent of the vote, the Conservatives 29 per cent and Labour 20 per cent.

JL Partners polled a representative sample of 4,441 adults across local authorities in which the 2026 council election was due to be delayed or pending delay. That is around 200 people in Harlow surveyed.

Only eleven of the 33 seats were due to be contested in Harlow. If Reform had won all eleven seats, the balance would have been Reform 12, Conservatives 12 and Labour 9.

In total, Reform UK would have won in 20 councils where elections are now set to be cancelled.

The press release states: “The data also shows that 82 per cent of voters in areas where they are being denied their democratic right believe those elections should go ahead.

Despite the Local Government Secretary’s deluded claim that voters would support cancelling what he described as “pointless elections”, the public clearly disagrees.

Two-thirds (66 per cent) of those polled say it is unacceptable to delay long-planned local elections in order to free up capacity for local government reorganisation.

“Further polling reveals that if there were a general election tomorrow, Reform leads on 30 per cent, a 10-point advantage, with the Conservatives and Labour trailing on 20 per cent and 18 per cent respectively”.

James Johnson, the co-founder of JL Partners, told the Telegraph:

“This poll shows Reform was set to sweep the board at the local elections in these councils.”

“As with last year, Reform was set for a historic victory – at the expense of both the Tories and Labour.

“Regardless of party, voters are furious when they hear about election cancellations: that 82 per cent to 5 per cent margin is one of the biggest I’ve seen in modern polling.”