Returning Officer Georgina Blakemore sets the scene for a special election year.
Hello,
My name is Georgina Blakemore. I am the Chief Executive and Returning Officer for Epping Forest District Council. You may have a fair idea about what a Chief Executive does, but fewer people know about Returning Officers. In short, I am responsible for elections. With lots of help from a dedicated elections team, my job is to make sure all our local elections from town and parish to the General Election run smoothly and successfully.
‘Did you say General Election’?
Turn on the TV. Open a newspaper. Unless you’re marooned without internet on a desert island, you probably know a General Election is coming. It must be held before the end of January 2025. Only the prime minister knows exactly when he plans to call it, but the law says Parliament must be dissolved and a general election held at least every five years. The clock is ticking.
Local Elections 2 May 2024
It’s also a big year for local elections. The Boundary Commission recently completed a review of our district council ward boundaries. Fewer larger wards come into being from 2 May. For one year only, every Epping Forest District Council seat is up for election in 2024, after which we return to elections by thirds. The office of the Essex Police Fire and Crime Commissioner, and many of our local town and parish councils are up for election this year too.
The elections team at Epping Forest District Council has been working hard in preparation. We have been updating the Electoral Register, checking polling stations, organising a new larger count centre, and getting to grips with a raft of changes to election law.
Changing landscape
This year’s elections are going to feel different. A great deal has changed. In a series of blogs I hope to help you navigate the changes and make the most of your votes over the coming months.
We are going to cover:
- Boundary Changes
- All-Out Elections District Elections
- Voter ID
- Postal, Proxy and absent Votes
- Police Fire and Crime Commissioner (PFCC) Elections
- Town and Parish Council Elections
- Parliamentary Elections
- Polling Stations and Count Venue
Starting here, I’m going to talk a little more about changes to the election of councillors to Epping Forest District Council.
Boundary Changes and all-out elections
Epping Forest District Council covers an area of approximately 130 square miles and a population of just under 135,000 people. That’s a large area and a lot of people.
The district is therefore sub-divided into electoral wards – smaller local areas. The size of each ward is based on population. Dividing the district into areas of roughly equal population means each councillor represents roughly the same number of people.
According to the Boundary Commission, the average number of electors per Epping Forest District councillor will increase from 1,856 in 2022, to 2,121 in 2028, but there is more to drawing boundaries than population. The Boundary Commission also allows itself a little wriggle room, ensuring wards reflect the natural community boundaries of towns and villages as much as possible.
Small villages may be represented by a single ward. Large villages and towns can be made up of several wards. But the Boundary Commission tries to ensure the number of electors in each ward varies by no more than 10% from the average.
So, having had wards since 1974, why has the Boundary Commission decided to change our wards now? Well, it’s actually not the first time. As new homes are built and populations grow, imbalances start to appear between wards. Some have more than 10% of the average, and some have less. So, the Boundary Commission comes along every few years and redraws the map.
The Boundary Commission completed its latest review of Epping Forest District in 2023. In summary:
- Our old wards represented by one, two or three councillors according to size, will all have three councillors from 2 May.
- As many of our smaller wards disappear to become part of larger wards, the overall number of wards will come down from 32 to 18.
- The overall number of councillors will also come down from 58 to 54.
You may also notice that the names of nearly all the wards have changed too.
Elections by thirds and all-out elections
Epping Forest District Council usually holds elections by thirds. In other words, a third of our councillors reach the end of their four-year term each year. We hold County Council elections in the fourth year.
However, because of the Boundary Commission changes, it simply wouldn’t be possible to phase the new wards in gradually. It has to be done in one go. For this year only, every seat will be up for election, and every voter will be able to vote for up to three candidates.
The candidate with the most votes will be returned to the Council for the next four years. The candidate with the next highest number of votes will face re-election three years from now. The candidate with the third highest vote will only serve two years before election. And so, we will return over time back to our system of election by thirds.
There is one other benefit of the Boundary Commission review. Under our old boundaries, you may have lived in a ward with only one or two councillors. You might therefore not have voted for several years at a time. Three councillor wards means you will have a chance to vote every year from now on. In three years out of four you will have a district council election. In the fourth year you will be able to vote for your County Councillor. In so doing, the Boundary Commission is offering you more choice and a larger democratic say on the councils that serve you.
One last point – a recent review of Parliamentary constituencies also took place last year. Although some significant changes have been made to the Harlow, and Brentwood and Ongar constituencies, most of the changes do not affect anyone living in Epping Forest district.
That’s quite a lot of information for a first blog. I hope I kept you with me. In my next blog, I shall be talking about a change in voting rules that affects not just local residents, but everyone who lives and votes in the UK – Voter ID.
Georgina Blakemore
More Elections Blogs
- Elections Blogs 2: Voter ID, Postal, Proxy and absent Votes
- Elections Blogs 3: Other Elections in May
- Elections Blogs 4: The General Election
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