Wirral Council Local Elections Consultation

This poll has now concluded. The report was submitted to an extraordinary meeting of council on 21st March 2022, where it was agreed that Wirral would move to Whole Council elections from 2023.

Wirral Council is interested in your views on whether we should change to 'whole council' elections or continue with the current system of ‘elections by thirds’.

The proposal to move to whole elections came out of a recent independent report into the council’s governance arrangements, commissioned by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

The change to 'whole council' elections would mean the whole council would be elected at the same time once every four years.

Following a special Policy and Resources Committee Meeting on 30 November 2021, Members voted to hold a public consultation process to seek the views of the public on moving to whole council elections in 2023. Below is some background information to help give you an informed view on the issue.

The consultation will run from 13 December 2021 until 20 February 2022.

Background

Wirral Council has 66 councillors in 22 electoral wards. Each ward is represented by three councillors. Each councillor is elected for a term of four years.

The councillors represent residents and their local ward area and make decisions on the running of council.

The current process – elections by thirds

Residents have three ward councillors for the area they live. The council currently uses a ‘by thirds’ electoral system. This means that over four years, elections are held in years one, two and three for one of the three councillors in each ward. In the fourth year there are no elections.

Benefits of this system:

  • New councillors can be elected more frequently.
  • Voters are able to react sooner to local circumstances, providing more immediate political accountability.
  • Residents are used to this electoral system.

A whole council election

This process would see all councillors up for election at the same time once every four years.

Benefits of this system:

  • Provide stability for the council to adopt a more strategic, long-term approach to policy and decision making.
  • Reduced costs. By reducing the number of elections held from three to one this would save approximately £125,000 per year over the four-year cycle.
  • Greater opportunity for residents to influence overall political control of the council, which may encourage more people to vote.

This consultation relates only to Wirral Council local elections. No other elections will be affected by any future change in Wirral Council’s electoral cycle. Parliamentary elections and police and crime commissioner elections will continue on their normal electoral cycle.

Under the Local Government and Public Involvement Health Act 2007, amended by the Localism Act 2011, the council has the power to change its electoral arrangements to whole council elections. This allows the council itself to decide whether to move to whole council elections, or back to elections by thirds. The council cannot move to a 50/50 electoral cycle as it has not elected this way in the past.

An easy read, downloadable version of the poll is available in the Documents section.

Image representing council elections voting, by thirds and whole council elections as described in the text above.


This poll has now concluded. The report was submitted to an extraordinary meeting of council on 21st March 2022, where it was agreed that Wirral would move to Whole Council elections from 2023.

Wirral Council is interested in your views on whether we should change to 'whole council' elections or continue with the current system of ‘elections by thirds’.

The proposal to move to whole elections came out of a recent independent report into the council’s governance arrangements, commissioned by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

The change to 'whole council' elections would mean the whole council would be elected at the same time once every four years.

Following a special Policy and Resources Committee Meeting on 30 November 2021, Members voted to hold a public consultation process to seek the views of the public on moving to whole council elections in 2023. Below is some background information to help give you an informed view on the issue.

The consultation will run from 13 December 2021 until 20 February 2022.

Background

Wirral Council has 66 councillors in 22 electoral wards. Each ward is represented by three councillors. Each councillor is elected for a term of four years.

The councillors represent residents and their local ward area and make decisions on the running of council.

The current process – elections by thirds

Residents have three ward councillors for the area they live. The council currently uses a ‘by thirds’ electoral system. This means that over four years, elections are held in years one, two and three for one of the three councillors in each ward. In the fourth year there are no elections.

Benefits of this system:

  • New councillors can be elected more frequently.
  • Voters are able to react sooner to local circumstances, providing more immediate political accountability.
  • Residents are used to this electoral system.

A whole council election

This process would see all councillors up for election at the same time once every four years.

Benefits of this system:

  • Provide stability for the council to adopt a more strategic, long-term approach to policy and decision making.
  • Reduced costs. By reducing the number of elections held from three to one this would save approximately £125,000 per year over the four-year cycle.
  • Greater opportunity for residents to influence overall political control of the council, which may encourage more people to vote.

This consultation relates only to Wirral Council local elections. No other elections will be affected by any future change in Wirral Council’s electoral cycle. Parliamentary elections and police and crime commissioner elections will continue on their normal electoral cycle.

Under the Local Government and Public Involvement Health Act 2007, amended by the Localism Act 2011, the council has the power to change its electoral arrangements to whole council elections. This allows the council itself to decide whether to move to whole council elections, or back to elections by thirds. The council cannot move to a 50/50 electoral cycle as it has not elected this way in the past.

An easy read, downloadable version of the poll is available in the Documents section.

Image representing council elections voting, by thirds and whole council elections as described in the text above.


Page last updated: 22 Mar 2022, 10:24 AM