Publish date: 2 March 2026
Council elections will take place in Sefton, Knowsley, St Helens and Halton on Thursday, 7 May, and NHS England has shared the latest pre-election guidance. Here you will find more detail, and some key considerations. Our external communications activities necessary for operational delivery purposes will continue as usual. It’s important during this period that the NHS must act and be seen to act with political impartiality and our resources should not be used for party political purposes.
The pre-election period is not designed to prevent you going about your daily business but, as a public body, we are prevented from making major announcements about the Trust that could be construed as political. The latest the pre-election period could begin in areas where there are local elections (i.e. the latest date at which an election can be declared) is Tuesday, 31 March 2026.
For national organisations, the pre-election period begins three weeks before the scheduled local elections, on Thursday 16 April 2026.