Elections to Staffordshire's new unitary authorities are set to take place next May – replacing the previously scheduled council elections.

The government announced on Thursday (16 July) that all 10 city, county and district councils in Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire will be abolished and replaced with two new unitary authorities as part of local government reorganisation.

Elections to the northern and southern Staffordshire unitaries are due to take place on 6 May, 2027, ahead of the new councils taking over in 2028.

Every registered voter in Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire will be able to take part in these elections.

Eight of the existing councils, including Stoke-on-Trent City Council, would normally have held elections next year, but these will no longer take place.

Sitting councillors at these authorities who were due to face re-election will instead serve extended terms during the transition period.

All-out elections were due to take place in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire Moorlands, Stafford, South Staffordshire, Lichfield and East Staffordshire, while a third of the seats in Tamworth and Cannock Chase were set to be contested.

A structural changes order (SCO), once it is approved by Parliament early next year, will abolish the existing councils, establish the new unitaries and set out the transitional arrangements.

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The SCO will establish the legal basis for the 2027 elections, as well as setting the number of councillors in the new authorities and their ward boundaries.