Who rules //
Local Government Elections
Who chooses the council?
Just like we have MPs representing us in Parliament, we have local councillors who represent us in the council. They also belong to political parties, so you quite often will hear of councils being referred to as Labour councils or Conservative councils.
Do local elections really matter?
Most people think it's fairly important to vote in a general election. After all, it's about who is going to be responsible for the country for at least the next four years. However, local elections don't seem to get the same level of respect. Local councillors are rarely seen on TV and they don't get any say in what happens in the country. Why should we bother to vote in local elections?
How is the council elected?
It all starts with the local people. At the local election, they elect councillors. Councillors all belong to different political parties. The party with the most votes is the party in charge, so its main ideas and views will influence how the local area is run. The council meets and elects its leader and a Cabinet (just like national government). The Cabinet members and various committees are responsible for specific issues such as education, social services and health.
Voter turnout
Voter turnout for local elections in some areas is as low as 20%. That means that just one-fifth of the people in some areas have had a say in who is in charge in the local area. The majority of people have, therefore, allowed a minority to decide who should run their local area. Yet the majority of people would not be slow to complain if local services started to break down.
Key Points
- Every citizen over the age of 18 has a right to vote in local elections.
- Turnout tends to be much lower in local elections than in general elections.
- In a local election, people vote for councillors.
- Councillors belong to political parties just like MPs.
Reality Bytes: Low Voter Turnout
The government and local councils want to be sure they are truly representing local people, so they have worked together to try and get more people voting. In the summer of 2004, they tested a number of new voting methods to see which encouraged the most people to put their cross in the box.
There was postal voting, text voting, internet voting, telephone voting and voting via digital television. Postal voting was the most successful method. People seem more likely to vote if they can post off their ballot paper in advance. Could this be the future of voting? Maybe there's still hope for text voting? Time will tell...
Interesting Facts
- Areas where the Liberal Democrats do well tend to have higher voter turnout.
- The Isle of Wight is the largest constituency in the UK with around 105,000 eligible voters.
- The Western Isles is the smallest constituency with just 22,000 eligible voters.
Big Questions
- In some countries it's illegal not to vote. Do you think this is a good idea?
- Elections always take place on a Thursday. Do you think it should be changed to a Sunday to encourage voter turnout as most people aren't at work then?
- Why do you think local election turnout is so low when the local area matters to everyone?
