Devolution Priority Programme
UK government programme creating directly-elected regional mayors in English combined authorities.
Last refreshed: 10 April 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Why did six regional mayor elections get pushed back by a year or two?
Latest on Devolution Priority Programme
- What is the Devolution Priority Programme?
- The Labour government's initiative creating new directly-elected combined-authority mayors in English regions, with the first six elections originally scheduled for 7 May 2026.
- Which devolution mayoral elections were delayed to 2027 or 2028?
- Cheshire and Warrington plus Cumbria to May 2027; Greater Essex, Hampshire and the Solent, Norfolk and Suffolk, and Sussex and Brighton to May 2028.
- Why were the 2026 English mayoral elections postponed?
- MHCLG announced on 16 February 2026 that the statutory consultation on combined-authority arrangements needed to conclude first.Source: MHCLG
Background
The Devolution Priority Programme is the Labour government's flagship English devolution initiative, designating combined-authority areas for new directly-elected regional mayors with strategic powers over transport, skills, housing, and economic development. Six inaugural DPP mayoral elections were originally scheduled for 7 May 2026 but were postponed by MHCLG on 16 February 2026.
Cheshire and Warrington plus Cumbria were moved to May 2027; Greater Essex, Hampshire and the Solent, Norfolk and Suffolk, and Sussex and Brighton were pushed to May 2028. The delay created a democratic void: county councils in the same geographies vote on 7 May 2026 with no elected combined-authority mayor above them for two years. Critics, including the Institute for Government, characterised the postponement saga as 'a government fiasco'.
The DPP postponements matter beyond scheduling: they place newly elected county councillors in a constitutional limbo, exercising powers that will shortly transfer to unitary structures and mayors that do not yet exist. For voters in Essex, Hampshire, Norfolk, and Suffolk, the 7 May ballot is simultaneously an election and a placeholder — democratic accountability without the institutional architecture to support it.