May 2016 | UK Elections Portal

Local Elections in England: May 2016

What’s happening in May 2016

Metropolitan Councils

• Three of the 36 Metropolitan Councils have all their seats up for election. These are Knowsley, Rotherham and Sheffield all of which are currently Labour held.

Unitary Councils

• There are only three Councils where every seat is up for election. These are Bristol (no overall control – Labour minority), Peterborough (no overall control – Conservative minority) and Warrington (Labour control)
• There are 16 Councils where a third of the members are up for election. Ones to watch are Thurrock, currently under no overall control and Portsmouth which is a Conservative-UKIP arrangement.

District Councils

• There are 12 District Councils were all seats are up for election. These are Cherwell, Colchester, Elmbridge, Exeter, Gloucester, Lincoln, Rochford, Stroud, Watford, Welywn Hatfield, Winchester and Woking.

Mayoral Elections

• In addition to London, there will be Mayoral elections in Bristol (independent), Liverpool (Labour) and Salford (Labour)

About Local Elections

Most ‘local’ elections are to vote for someone who will represent you on a local council. These can be at a parish, district, city, metropolitan area or county level. Campaigns

Most ‘local’ elections are to vote for someone who will represent you on a local council. These can be at a parish, district, city, metropolitan area or county level. Campaigns often focus on a mixture of their standing in and plans for the local area as well as the aims of their party. Voters will often switch their vote at a local level, for a strong local candidate, compared to a General Election when they are voting for who they want to see govern Britain.

Not all councils hold elections at the same time and the cycle of how long someone who is successful differs. For example, some elect people for four years and some councils elect a third of elected members, known as ‘Councillors’, each year for three out of the four-year cycle.

Candidates for local election must be aged 18 or over and either be British, or citizens of other European Union or Commonwealth countries. Those standing in English council elections must be on the electoral register of the council concerned or must have lived in or worked in the council area within the past year.

Some people are banned from standing in the elections including anyone employed by the local authority: bankrupts; and people in a variety of politically restricted jobs.