Jim McMahon
Labour MP for Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton; minister for local government and devolution.
On 7 September, Jim McMahon withdrew planned council mergers in four English counties after updated legal advice, while pausing 14 further decisions for review.
Last refreshed: 7 October 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Will McMahon's review settle the July mergers before councils' mid-October court deadline?
Timeline for Jim McMahon
McMahon drops four mergers on legal advice
UK Local Elections 2026Background
Jim McMahon is the Labour and Co-operative MP for Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton and the minister for local government, devolution and regional growth at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. He was appointed on 22 July 2026 under Prime Minister Andy Burnham and serves under Angela Rayner.
He led Oldham Council from 2011 to 2016 and has sat for Oldham since a by-election on 3 December 2015, first for Oldham West and Royton and, since 2024, for the successor seat. In opposition he was shadow transport secretary and then shadow environment secretary. He was Minister of State for Local Government and English Devolution from July 2024 to September 2025, and he has chaired the Co-operative Party since 2020.
In his current POST he leads the rapid review of England's reorganisation programme, which he opened on 7 September by withdrawing four county decisions.
McMahon stops four council mergers
On 7 September, McMahon wrote to council leaders that the March 2026 reorganisation decisions for Essex, Hampshire, Norfolk and Suffolk had been withdrawn "following updated legal advice". Council elections in May 2027 "will go ahead to existing council boundaries", he wrote, so the planned elections to shadow authorities are off. Angela Rayner told the Commons the same day that she had considered the legal advice but refused to publish it.
His letter also put all 14 decisions announced in July under a rapid review with no end date. Those decisions were paused rather than withdrawn, so they still stand in law. Because a judicial review must be brought within three months, councils such as Lancashire face a Deadline of about 16 October to protect their position in court.