Ministers have halted the merger that would have abolished Ashford Borough Council in 2028. The May 2027 borough election now goes ahead on today's wards.

The plan to abolish Ashford Borough Council and fold it into a new Mid Kent Council has been stopped while ministers review the whole reorganisation programme. Councils have been told to put down the work, and the borough election scheduled for May 2027 will now go ahead on the wards that exist today.

The instruction came in a letter dated 7 September 2026 from Jim McMahon OBE MP, Minister for Local Government, Devolution and Regional Growth, to council leaders across every reorganisation area (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government).

We reported the Mid Kent decision in full on 15 August. That page now carries a correction.

What the minister actually said

Two different things happened on the same day, and it matters which one applies to Kent.

Four areas had their decisions withdrawn outright: Essex, Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock; Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and Southampton; Norfolk; and Suffolk. Those were the decisions taken in March, and the minister says they were withdrawn after “updated legal advice”.

Kent is in the second group. Its decision was one of the 14 taken in July, and those are being reviewed rather than cancelled. The review is led by Mr McMahon and will “look at the programme as a whole”.

The sentence that changes things locally is this one:

Until this review has concluded, I am asking you, together with your partners, to cease work on implementing the decisions that were announced in July.

And this one:

While the current timetable for reorganisation envisages local elections scheduled for May 2027 being replaced by elections to the new councils, this review means elections scheduled to take place in May 2027 will go ahead to existing council boundaries.

The two new Surrey councils are unaffected, because they are already established in law. No date has been given for the review reporting. The minister wrote only that he would “ensure that next steps are communicated early and clearly to the sector”.

What Ashford Borough Council says

The council published its own account the following day, on 8 September, and it confirms the borough is inside the pause:

Following the government’s announcement that Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) in Kent and Medway is being paused pending a review, council leaders across the county are seeking clarity from the government on a number of issues.

In the meantime, we remain 100% focused on delivering the best possible services for those who live, work and study in the county while supporting our staff who do an incredible job day in and day out.

That paragraph is a joint Kent position rather than an Ashford one. The same words were published by Gravesham Borough Council on 7 September as the response of Kent councils collectively (Ashford Borough Council, Gravesham Borough Council).

What was going to happen, and is now on hold

What the reorganisation pause changes for Ashford A comparison of the July 2026 decision and the position after the 7 September 2026 pause. Under the July decision Ashford Borough Council would be abolished on 1 April 2028, replaced by Mid Kent Council with 60 councillors covering Ashford, Folkestone and Hythe and Swale, with May 2027 elections held to the new council and implementation work under way. After the pause there is no abolition date, Mid Kent Council is not being created for now, the May 2027 election is an ordinary borough election for 47 seats on existing wards, and councils have been told to stop implementation work. What the pause changes for Ashford The 16 July 2026 decision, and the position after the minister's letter of 7 September 2026. Decided in July After 7 September Ashford Borough Council abolished on 1 April 2028 No abolition date. The decision is under review, not withdrawn Mid Kent Council created, 60 councillors, covering Ashford, Folkestone and Hythe and Swale Not being created for now. Councils told to stop work on implementing the July decisions May 2027: elections to the new council instead of the borough May 2027: ordinary borough election, 47 seats, existing wards Kent County Council abolished, its 81 members with it Still the highway, education and social care authority for Ashford Sources: MHCLG decision and implementation letters, 16 and 22 July 2026; MHCLG letter to council leaders, 7 September 2026; Ashford Borough Council member index. Graphic by The Ashford Times

On 16 July the then Secretary of State, Steve Reed, confirmed four unitary councils for Kent and Medway from 1 April 2028. Ashford was grouped with Folkestone and Hythe and with Swale in a council whose legal name would be Mid Kent Council, with 60 councillors. Kent County Council, Medway Council and all twelve district, borough and city councils were to be abolished on the same day.

An implementation letter followed on 22 July, giving the three councils until 17 August to tell the ministry which chief executive should be the returning officer for the new authority’s first election and what the interim ward boundaries should be. That work is now among the work councils have been asked to stop.

The May 2027 election is the part you will notice first

Ashford Borough Council last held a full election on 4 May 2023, when all its seats were contested, and it has 47 councillors (Ashford Borough Council election results, member index). On a four-year cycle the next one falls in May 2027.

Under the July decision that poll would have been replaced by an election to Mid Kent Council. The minister’s letter puts it back, and puts it back on the boundaries in use today. So in May 2027, on the current position, Ashford residents will elect borough councillors to a council that the government had decided to abolish eleven months later.

The town council question is now in limbo too

The pause lands on a live piece of Ashford business. The council is running a Community Governance Review asking whether the unparished urban area should have its own town council, covering the Town Centre, Willesborough, Repton and South Ashford.

The reason given for doing it now is the abolition. The council’s own page opens: “Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) means in a few years’ time Ashford Borough Council will no longer exist. Services will move to a new, larger unitary council.” A town council was the proposed way of keeping a local voice for the only part of the borough with no parish tier.

The council says the survey has closed, most of those who responded last year supported the idea, and it will “provide an update on the next stage in due course”. When we checked on 12 September the review pages still stated that “from 1 April 2028, the county and borough councils will no longer exist” (Community Governance Review).

The council has also said any town council would mean an increase in the precept, the part of the council tax bill raised locally.

What it means for you

  • Nothing changes about your services today. Bins, housing, planning and council tax stay with Ashford Borough Council. Roads, schools and social care stay with Kent County Council.
  • Expect a borough election in May 2027, for 47 seats, in the wards that exist now.
  • Kent is paused, not cancelled. The four withdrawn areas are elsewhere. Mid Kent Council could still happen, on a later timetable or in a different shape.
  • There is no published date for the review to report. Treat any 2028 merger date you see on a council page or leaflet as out of date until the government says otherwise.
  • If you were following the town council proposal, wait for the council’s next update rather than the old timetable.

Our own pages carrying the 2028 date are being corrected as we find them. If you spot one we have missed, tell us.

More local information: Ashford council tax bands, Ashford planning news and Ashford bin collection days.

Sources