About this episode

This episode discusses the implications of the May 2026 elections on local government reorganisation in England.

How has England’s political landscape changed after the May 2026 elections? How will new local leaders go about their new roles? And what does this mean for the delivery of the government’s local government reorganisation (LGR) agenda? In this special episode of Inside Briefing, Matthew Fright, the Institute for Government’s LGR anorak, has been gathering views across three areas - Surrey, Essex and Kent – at the forefront of LGR delivery to see how the government’s aims to remove two-tier local government will be impacted by May’s elections. PLUS: An expert panel to unpick the election results and consider the demanding in-tray facing new local leaders as they get up to speed on this once in a generation transformation of local areas. Featuring: Ed Hammond, Director of Public Sector Audit at Grant Thornton UK Heather Jameson, Editor of MJ Vicky Elliot, Director of the IfG Academy Akash Paun, Programme Director for Devolution at IfG Plus interviews with: Cllr Tim Oliver OBE, Leader of Surrey County Council Mari Roberts-Wood, Chief Executive of Reigate and Banstead District Council Cllr Stephen Robinson, Leader of Chelmsford District Council Cllr Kevin Bentley, former leader of…

People in this episode

Host: Matthew Fright

Guests: Ed Hammond, Heather Jameson, Vicky Elliot, Akash Paun, Cllr Tim Oliver OBE, Mari Roberts-Wood, Cllr Stephen Robinson, Cllr Kevin Bentley, Cllr Linden Kemkaran, Cllr Vince Maple

Topics covered

• local government reorganisation
• May 2026 elections
• political landscape
• local leaders
• government agenda
• election results
• transformation of local areas

Keywords

• local government
• elections
• reorganisation
• political changes
• local leaders
• government agenda
• Surrey
• Essex
• Kent

Sponsors

Grant Thornton UK

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Institute for Government

Places: Surrey, Essex, Kent

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