Essex Police, Fire & Crime Commissioner and Town/Parish Elections.
As well as all-out elections for Epping Forest District Council on 2 May, residents will also be voting for the office of Police Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex. Some residents will also have town and parish council elections. Returning Officer Georgina Blakemore explains more.
Hello,
Local District Council and Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner elections take place across Epping Forest District on 2 May. Some areas will also have town or parish council elections. In this blog, I want to tell you about those town and parishes as well as the PFCC for Essex.
Democracy at the heart of the community
As a resident of Epping Forest District, most of your local public services are provided by a combination of three councils, Essex County Council, Epping Forest District Council and one of 24 Town and Parish Councils. The largest towns such as Loughton and Waltham Abbey represent thousands of local residents, while some of the smallest such as Theydon Mount and Willingale serve populations of 500 or fewer residents.
Town and parish councils provide some of the most local services including playgrounds, village halls, community centres and burial grounds.
14 of our 24 town and parish councils are due to hold elections on 2 May. The following table provides a list including the breakdown by ward of larger towns and parishes.
Abbess, Beauchamp and Berners Roding | Buckhurst Hill Parish Council | Chigwell Parish Council |
AB and BR | Buckhurst Hill East Buckhurst Hill West | Chigwell Row Chigwell Village Grange Hill |
Fyfield Parish Council | High Ongar Parish Council | Loughton Town Council |
Fyfield | High Ongar Norton Mandeville Paslow Common | Loughton Alderton Loughton Broadway Loughton Debden Loughton Fairmead Loughton Forest Loughton Roding Loughton St John`s Loughton St Mary`s Loughton Whitebridge |
Moreton, Bobbingworth and the Lavers Parish Council | Theydon Bois Parish Council | Theydon Garnon Parish Council |
Bobbingworth Moreton The Lavers | Theydon Bois | Theydon Garnon |
Theydon Mount Parish Council | Stanford Rivers Parish Council | Stapleford Abbotts Parish Council |
Theydon Mount | Stanford Rivers | Stapleford Abbotts |
Stapleford Tawney Parish Council | Willingale Parish Council | |
Stapleford Tawney | Willingale |
In theory, Town and Parish councils hold all out elections every four years. Sadly, it can be hard to find enough local people willing to stand as town or parish councillors. When there are more vacancies than candidates, we call these ‘uncontested’ elections. All the candidates are appointed automatically. The town or parish can then co-opt further people to fill any remaining seats.
However, if you are thinking of stepping forward and want to see what being a councillor is about, offering your time to your local town or parish council can be a good way of finding out more.
Police and Fire
The office of the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner holds responsibility for some of the biggest budgets and largest organisations in the County – Essex Police and the Essex Fire and Rescue Services. Working with the Chief Fire Officer and Chief Constable, the Police Fire and Crime Commissioner is responsible for the safety and security of more than 1.8 million people.
Including Epping Forest, the total of the votes counted in each of the 14 District, Borough, City and Unitary councils of Essex, will be collated at a central venue hosted this year by Colchester City Council.
The PFCC will be elected by a simple majority this year following adoption of the ‘First Past the Post’ system used in Parliamentary elections.
I’ve nearly covered all the bases. In my final blog I talk about the nuts and bolts of the elections – the polling stations and count venues. And the one everyone is waiting for – the General Election.
Georgina Blakemore
More Elections Blogs
- Elections Blogs 1: Democracy in Action
- Elections Blogs 2: Voter ID, Postal, Proxy and absent Votes
- Elections Blogs 4: The General Election
Keep up to date
Keep in touch with our latest news, service updates and reports.