The Bench Report

Local Government: Elections and Boundaries

• The Bench Report • Season 2 • Episode 22

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Part 2 of how local government works in England, focusing on elections and the changing structure of councils. We'll explore the First Past the Post electoral system used in wards, how boundaries are set by the LGBCE, and different election cycles like electing "by thirds". Discover the ongoing trend towards creating unitary authorities and merging councils, aimed at larger administrative units. Learn about the voting process, historical turnout trends, and the procedures behind these significant structural and boundary changes.

Key Takeaways:

  • Local elections in England typically use the First Past the Post system.
  • Councils are divided into areas called wards, which elect councillors.
  • The Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) reviews and sets ward boundaries.
  • Ward boundaries are reviewed based on factors like electoral inequality or lack of recent review.
  • Some councils elect all councillors every four years, while others elect "by thirds" or "by halves".
  • Voting is open to UK, Irish, Commonwealth, and EU citizens aged 18+ residing in the UK.
  • Local election turnout is historically lower than general elections.
  • There's a trend towards creating unitary authorities and merging councils for larger administrative units.
  • Creating unitary authorities involves specific legal procedures and requires government and parliamentary approval.
  • New unitary authorities are suggested to generally have a population of 500,000 or more.
  • Minor boundary adjustments (PABRs) are also possible but have been rare.

Important Definitions & Concepts:

  • Ward: An electoral area within a local authority that elects one or more councillors.
  • First Past the Post: The electoral system where the candidate with the most votes in a ward wins. In multi-member wards, voters have multiple votes.
  • Unitary Authority: A single local council responsible for all local government functions in its area, contrasting with a two-tier system.

Source: Local government in England: structures
Research Briefing
Published Tuesday, 22 April, 2025

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No outside chatter: source material only taken from Hansard and the Parliament UK website.

Contains Parliamentary information repurposed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.

Ivan:

Hello and welcome to The Bench Report. You're listening to Amy and Ivan. Today, part two of our series on local government, elections and boundaries.

Amy:

In our last conversation, we covered the basics of how English local government is structured.

Ivan:

That's it. Now we're looking at how people actually get elected as local councillors and how the map of these local areas can change here in England specifically.

Amy:

Absolutely. Important to stress that because Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, they all have different systems. We're focused just on England today.

Ivan:

So let's start with elections. How do councillors get voted in?

Amy:

Well, for most English local authorities, the system is first past the post. Simple majority wins, basically.

Ivan:

And the area is divided up.

Amy:

Correct. Into smaller sections called wards. Each ward gets one or sometimes more counselors representing it. Often, these ward lines follow older parish boundaries.

Ivan:

And who decides on these ward boundaries?

Amy:

That's the job of the Local Government Boundary Commission for England, the LGBCE. They conduct what are called electoral reviews.

Ivan:

Electoral reviews. Are these regular?

Amy:

Not automatically anymore, actually. The LGBCE decides when they're needed. They might look at a council if, say, the number of voters per councillor varies wildly across different wards. That's electoral inequality.

Ivan:

OK, so it's about fairness.

Amy:

Fairness, yes. Or if a council just hasn't been reviewed for maybe over 12 years, councils can also request a review themselves.

Ivan:

What do they consider when drawing these lines?

Amy:

Two main things, really. Community identity. Do people in an area feel like they belong together? And secondly, the need for for effective and convenient local government. Do the boundaries make practical sense for council services?

Ivan:

And this is just about ward lines not changing the whole council structure.

Amy:

Exactly. These electoral reviews are separate from the bigger structural changes like creating unitary authorities. We can get to those later.

Ivan:

You mentioned some wards have more than one counselor.

Amy:

Yes. Single member wards have one. Multi-member wards have several.

Ivan:

How does voting work in those multi-member wards with First Past the Post?

Amy:

So you, the voter, get as many votes as there are are seats available in your ward, you can cast them for different candidates.

Ivan:

And the result?

Amy:

Well, a common outcome because of the system is that all the winning counselors in that ward end up being from the same political party.

Ivan:

Interesting. What about when elections happen? Is it always every four years?

Amy:

Not always. Many councils, particularly metropolitan ones and some districts, elect by thirds.

Ivan:

By thirds.

Amy:

Meaning a third of the council seats are up for election each year for three years. Then there's a year off, some others elect by halves half the council every two years.

Ivan:

Can they change that cycle?

Amy:

Yes. Councils using thirds or halves can opt to switch to all out elections where every single seat is contested every four years.

Ivan:

Can they switch back?

Amy:

Usually only if they use that thirds or halves system before making the change to all out. There are restrictions.

Ivan:

And who gets to vote in these local elections?

Amy:

You need to be 18 or over living in the UK and be a citizen of the UK, the Republic of Ireland, a Commonwealth country or an EU member state.

Ivan:

Is that different elsewhere in the UK?

Amy:

It is in Scotland and Wales. There, 16 and 17 year olds can vote in local elections and elections for their devolved parliaments. Not the case in England yet.

Ivan:

What's the typical turnout like? Do people engage with local elections?

Amy:

Turnout is generally lower than for UK general elections. Typically, it's been somewhere between, say, 30 and 45 percent since the 1980s. It does jump up, though, if a local election happens on the same day as a general election.

Ivan:

Okay. So that covers elections. But you mentioned bigger structural changes earlier, like the council areas themselves changing.

Amy:

That's right. The actual structure isn't fixed forever. You can create new types of councils or merge existing ones.

Ivan:

How does that work? Let's say creating a unitary authority where one council does everything.

Amy:

The main legislation for that is the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007. Typically, the secretary of state and the national government sort of invites proposals from areas.

Ivan:

Councils suggest it themselves.

Amy:

Often, yes. The LGBCE might offer advice on these proposals. If the government agrees, it makes a legal order. But that order needs approval from both the House of Commons and the House of Lords.

Ivan:

And this is happening now.

Amy:

There's definitely a trend towards it. In February 2025, for instance, the government invited county areas with two tiers of councils, county and district, to submit initial ideas for becoming unitary. We are seeing more larger unitary bodies being formed.

Ivan:

What about merging, say, two district councils?

Amy:

That also uses the 2007 Act. It involves a review by the LGBCE, again, perhaps requested by the government or a council involved.

Ivan:

And what can that review recommend?

Amy:

It could recommend boundary changes or even abolishing the existing councils and creating a brand new one covering the combined area.

Ivan:

Could it go the other way? Split a council up?

Amy:

Technically, yes. The same process could potentially be used to divide a council or even revert a unitary back to a two-tier system, though that kind of de-amalgamation hasn't really happened since the major shake-up And this

Ivan:

is different from creating small parish councils.

Amy:

Completely separate process. Parishes are the most local level. They can't be sort of promoted to become a district or unitary. But yes, these structural changes, mergers and unitaries have been happening since 2010.

Ivan:

Are there ways to make smaller adjustments to boundaries, not whole reorganizations?

Amy:

Yes. There are principal area boundary reviews, or PBRs, for more minor tweaks between council areas.

Ivan:

Who initiates those?

Amy:

The LGBCE can, or they might do it, if asked by the government or a local authority.

Ivan:

Are there conditions?

Amy:

Usually, yes. The LGBCE typically wants to see support from the affected councils, some evidence of public backing, and that it represents good value for money.

Ivan:

And the criteria? Similar to Ward

Amy:

Similar considerations. Effective and convenient local government and respecting community identities and interests. The final decision rests with the Secretary of State needing parliamentary approval. Mind you, these PADRs haven't been very common since the 1990s.

Ivan:

Does the government give guidance on what makes a good proposal for, say, a new unitary authority?

Amy:

It does. The Labor government's guidance from February 2025, for example, suggested a guiding principle of a population over 500,000 for new unitaries.

Ivan:

Half a million people. That's quite large.

Amy:

It is. They also emphasize things like high quality public services, good collaboration between bodies, supporting devolution and engaging with the community.

Ivan:

One last thing. Is there any interaction with devolution deals?

Amy:

Yes. The Cities and Local Government Devolution Act 2016. It allows the Secretary of State to modify some of these boundary change rules specifically for creating unitary authorities when it's part of a wider devolution deal. This could potentially streamline the process, but it requires the consent of the councils involved.

Ivan:

So quite a lot to take in there. We've covered how councillors get elected via first-past-the-posts in wards, the different election cycles, and the LGBCE's role in ward boundaries.

Amy:

And then the bigger picture of structural changes creating unitaries, merging districts, the less frequent PBRs for minor changes, all guided by legislation and government policy.

Ivan:

It certainly shows the landscape of English local government is, well, complex and definitely subject to change over time.

Amy:

Indeed. It's an aliving picture.

Ivan:

As always, find us on social media at BenchReportUK. Get in touch with any topic important to you. Our next episode looks at local authority finances. Join us then.

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