The Telegraph launched Campaign For Democracy in February 2026 in response to the Labour Party’s decision to cancel 30 local council elections for 4 million people in England. 

The paper called for the elections to go ahead and for the scrapping of a clause in the Local Government Act 2000, which allows polls to be delayed without a full vote in Parliament.

During the campaign, The Telegraph visited towns and cities around the country and published dozens of stories putting local issues on the front page and uncovered failings of local authorities.

The paper found that some of the most financially unstable councils in Britain were among the 30 local authorities attempting to postpone votes, with more than £7.7bn of debt between them.

Labour MPs used an urgent question tabled by James Cleverly, then shadow local government secretary, to criticise their Government’s decision to cancel elections. Nigel Farage in turn vowed to scrap the law that allowed Sir Keir Starmer to cancel the local elections. Mr Farage pledged that Reform UK’s next manifesto would include a commitment to remove the clause from the Local Government Act that gives ministers power to delay local authority elections.

After 32 days of campaigning from The Telegraph and growing concerns from across the political divide, the government abandoned its plans. Facing the prospect of a High Court showdown with lawyers acting for Reform UK set to argue that the decision to postpone local elections was an abuse of power that threatened the foundations of British democracy, the Government eventually backed down.