Local Government Elections

© James Morrison 2007

Local Government Elections

Until 1974, local government elections were held throughout the first week in May, but the Local Government Act 1972 changed this, stipulating that they should instead be held on the first Thursday in May – unless the Home Secretary fixed another day. Perhaps surprisingly, the same Act stated for the first time that all councillors must be directly elected (until then, some archaic offices had remained in place, such as those of the aldermen who were elected by councillors themselves).

All councillors are now elected for a period of four years – except, of course, those voted in as a result of a by-election caused by the death of a sitting councillor, or their resignation or disqualification from office in mid-term. Councillors elected in by-elections sit for the remainder of the term of office of the person they are replacing, and when a councillor leaves office after the September of a year preceding a May local election his or her seat remains vacant until polling day.

Like MPs, councillors have their own mini “constituencies”, but the terms used to refer to these differ from one type of local authority to another. They are:

(a) Electoral divisions (county divisions) – the constituencies in county councils

(b) Wards - the constituencies in which you vote in district council and unitary authority elections

The precise election cycles followed by the various types of local authority vary in the following ways:

• County councils – counties are split into electoral/county divisions, which each return one councillor, and elections are held every four years, with the whole council retiring at the same time, in 1993, 1997, 2001, etc

• London borough councils – elections held every four years, again with whole councils retiring at the same time. Boroughs split into wards, each of which returns between one and three councillors depending on its population size. Elections in 1994, 1998, etc

• Metropolitan borough councils – again divided into wards represented by between one and three councillors. Elections are held in three out of every four years, with one third of the council (which translates as one councillor from each ward) retiring each time. Elections never take place in these areas in the same year as, in other parts of the country, county council elections are held. Elections held in 1998, 1999, 2000 and then again in 2002, 2003, 2004, etc (with none in 1997, 2001, 2005 and so on)

• Shire district/borough councils in two-tier areas – these follow the same pattern generally as metropolitan boroughs, but they can choose whether they wish to have one-third of the council retiring in three years out of four or the whole council retiring at the same time. If they opt for the former, their electoral calendar is the same as that for metropolitan boroughs, but if the latter their elections are held mid-way between those of counties, in 1995, 1999, etc

• Unitary authorities (e.g. Brighton and Hove City Council) – follow the same pattern as shire district/borough councils, but special arrangements are made in areas where there is a hybrid system (i.e. one or more unitary authorities and a smaller residual county council). When a new unitary authority is created out of the amalgamation of a pre-existing district council and county council, a statutory order may be passed stating that the new unitary authority will sit for a period of less than four years – to prevent elections clashing with county council ones in future

• Parish, town and community councils – elections held every four years, with whole council retiring at same time: 1991, 1995, 1999, etc. Each parish council has to have at least five councillors, and actual numbers are fixed by the local district council. Some parishes follow a ward-based system, others do not

As with many aspects of local government, this picture may potentially be rationalised as a result of the passage of the LGA 2000. Though few, if any, councils have as yet changed their modes of election from the above models, the new Act still envisaged all councillors holding office for a period of four years at a time, but with elections being held at different intervals, according to one of three options:

• The whole council being elected at the same time
• Half the council being elected every two years
• One-third of the council being elected in three out of four years

How does someone qualify to stand for election as a councillor?

Theoretically, anyone is entitled to stand for election as a councillor provided that, on the day of nomination, they fit the following criteria:

• They are a British, Commonwealth, Republic of Ireland or other EU state citizen and
• Have followed the proper nomination process and
• Are at least 18 years old and
• They are not disqualified from standing as a councillor (i.e. they are not bankrupt; have not in the previous five years been ordered by a court to repay £2,000 or more in respect of any loss or deficiency; have received a prison sentence of three months or more in the five years before the election without the option of a fine; or have been held by an election court to have committed a corrupt or illegal practice (either 10 years before the election, if in the same local authority area and they were directly guilty, or three years before if the same area and they were guilty by their agent)
• Can prove one of the following specified connections with the area:

(a)   They are an elector in the local authority area

(b)   They have, for the whole of the preceding year, occupied as owner or tenant land or other premises in that area

(c)   They have, for the whole of the preceding year, had their principal or only place of work in that area

(d)   They have, for the whole of the preceding year, lived in that area or (if they are a parish or community councillor) either lived in the area itself or within three miles of it

Who is entitled to vote in a local election?

Only those people whose names are on the register of electors in a given local authority area are entitled to vote. To be eligible for inclusion on the register, a person must:

• Be at least 18 years old or attain that age during the 12-month period covered by the register (provided this is by the date of the poll itself) and
• Be a UK, Commonwealth, Irish Republic or other EU citizen and
• Have a qualification based on normal residence, service in the Armed Forces or as a merchant seaman, or a declaration as a voluntary mental patient

Holidaymakers and others who expect to be absent from a local authority area on polling day can register an absent vote, as approved on June 24, 1986 in the wake of the 1985 Representation of the People Act. Electors who are taken ill prior to a poll can register an absent vote application up to six days before polling day.

The following people cannot vote in local elections:

• Foreign nationals (other than those entitled to be registered)
• Some patients detained under mental health legislation
• Convicted people detained in prison or in a mental institution (this does not include people on remand or bail)
• Anyone convicted within the previous five years of corrupt or illegal election practices
• Many British citizens who live abroad as ex-patriots

The electoral roll in every council area is maintained by an appointed electoral registration officer. It is his or her responsibility to ensure that every household completes a compulsory electoral registration form. This used to ask people what their place of residence was on October 10 of a given year, but the Representation of the People Act 2000, in addition to making it easier for disabled people to vote, changed this to give greater flexibility to people – enabling anyone to have their name added to the electoral register under a system known as “rolling registration” at the beginning of a given month.

Election Procedure

The following summarises the basic procedure governing local elections:

• A notice of election must be published at least 25 days before an election
• Nomination papers must be handed in by noon 19 days before the election – each of these should bear the candidate’s name, as well as that of a proposer, a seconder and eight supporters who are eligible to vote in the local authority area
• A list of nominated candidates must be published by noon on the 17^th day before the election
• Withdrawals of candidates can be made no later than 16 days before the election
• Each local authority appoints a returning officer (normally the chief executive of the council) to preside over the election night count. It is his or her responsibility to: (a) appoint presiding officers and poll clerks to attend each polling station during the day; (b) supervise the counting of votes; (c) rule on whether any ballot papers have been “spoiled”; and (d) publish the results
• Polling stations are open from 8am to 9pm for local elections (as opposed to 7am to 10pm for Parliamentary elections)
• When electors (or their proxies) arrive at a polling station to vote, their names are checked against the register and issued with a ballot paper. However, if an elector has applied for a postal vote they must send it to a designed place other than the polling station

There are various other rules governing the legitimate conduct of local elections. In relation to the candidate him or herself, there are legal limits that change from time to time on the amount of money he or she is allowed to spend on election expenses. To ensure this is not exceeded, the candidate’s agent must send an inventory of his or her expenses to the returning officer.

            In addition, any candidate who fails to win a seat but believes there has been an abuse or wrong application of the electoral process can go to court to apply for an election petition against the returning officer.

Moves Towards Improving Turnout at Local Elections

Dwindling engagement in local elections has long been a cause for concern to successive UK governments. Compared to many EU countries, the turnout in Britain’s local polls is extremely poor: in a recent survey, it came bottom of the list, with an average turnout of 40 per cent. Furthermore, it is estimated that between two and four million people are absent from the electoral register – whether intentionally, because of an attempt to avoid being charged council tax (or, more likely, the controversial local tax that preceded it, the community charge or Poll Tax), or accidentally.

            The recent New Labour Green Paper, Modernising Local Government, proposed the following changes to the election process:

• Maximising voting by encouragement through publicity, as opposed to compulsion
• A new system of anonymous registration for those reluctant to have their name appear on the register
• A rolling register that can be amended at any time, rather than once a year – a change that has subsequently been introduced
• “Taking the polling station to the voter” – by allowing voting at supermarkets, workplaces, colleges etc
• Allowing voting over a longer period, perhaps even a few days
• Extending the availability of absent voting
• Electronic voting (i.e. online and by email)
• Holding annual elections, at least for a portion of each council if not each individual councillor

The reasons for the generally poor turnout in local elections in Britain have long been disputed. One theory, which is often also advanced in the context of the declining turnout in general and European elections, is that there is a growing disillusionment with the fact that many votes are effectively “wasted” – i.e. that the nature of the UK electoral system means that someone who votes Labour, say, in a Conservative stronghold has little or no hope of voting in their choice of representative, and vice versa. Other reasons include the growing cynicism in the electorate about the level of power retained by local authorities in the face of the growth in the number of quangos, executive agencies and regional chambers appointed by government – many of which have steadily eroded councils’ responsibilities.

© James Morrison 2007