Local Elections

62% of the voters in Blaenau Gwent voted for Brexit, which was the highest percentage in Wales. Labour have today regained control of the council.

We had a 47% turnout in East Renfrewshire I think, very disappointing.
However, I was delighted to see an ex pupil, was elected a a councillor for the first time. Well done!

Roza Salih ,asylum seeker- Glasgow Girl now Glasgow city councillor.I and many of us are as delighted for her as she is for herself .Onwards and upwards Roza well done.

Casdon

62% of the voters in Blaenau Gwent voted for Brexit, which was the highest percentage in Wales. Labour have today regained control of the council.

It was rather odd because, in some areas, voters were able to go to a polling station on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to cast their votes.
It's a pilot scheme I believe.

paddyann54

Roza Salih ,asylum seeker- Glasgow Girl now Glasgow city councillor.I and many of us are as delighted for her as she is for herself .Onwards and upwards Roza well done.

Excellent news!

Callistemon21

Casdon

62% of the voters in Blaenau Gwent voted for Brexit, which was the highest percentage in Wales. Labour have today regained control of the council.

It was rather odd because, in some areas, voters were able to go to a polling station on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to cast their votes.
It's a pilot scheme I believe.

I did see that - they were piloting it in a few areas to see if would improve voting percentages, particularly in the student population, who don’t usually bother to vote. If it brings up the number of voters it’s a good thing I think.

Is it just in Wales or throughout the UK?

Callistemon21

Is it just in Wales or throughout the UK?

I don’t know, but it’s been done through the Electoral Commission, so it’s a legitimate pilot.
www.walesonline.co.uk/news/politics/you-can-vote-wales-council-23825710
Has anybody in England, Scotland or NI heard of similar going on anywhere else?

After the counting is done & dusted, let’s hope the local councils fix the pot holes, keep the streets and parks tidy etc rather than going on about cakegate etc

Mind you - Not a chance whilst there are trans issues etc to be addressed. Watch out now for a growth in the numbers of diversity related jobs.....

paddyann54

Roza Salih ,asylum seeker- Glasgow Girl now Glasgow city councillor.I and many of us are as delighted for her as she is for herself .Onwards and upwards Roza well done.

That's so good paddyann!

I've just seen the Edinburgh results. Tories have slipped from second to fifth place. Which is last place.

Urmstongran

After the counting is done & dusted, let’s hope the local councils fix the pot holes, keep the streets and parks tidy etc rather than going on about cakegate etc

Mind you - Not a chance whilst there are trans issues etc to be addressed. Watch out now for a growth in the numbers of diversity related jobs.....

In this area at least, it's the Tory County Council which is responsible for fixing potholes. Today's elections weren't for the county council.

Had a look through other posts and I'm to be the only one commenting on Cornwall, where I live.

No local election here.

Cornwall Council held its elections last year and the council operates on a four-year cycle so the next elections will not be held until 2024.

Last year’s elections saw the Conservatives take control of Cornwall Council after winning 47 of the 87 seats available. However, while they won the highest number of seats, they only took 37% of the votes cast.

I'll continue to vote for this to change.

growstuff

Urmstongran

After the counting is done & dusted, let’s hope the local councils fix the pot holes, keep the streets and parks tidy etc rather than going on about cakegate etc

Mind you - Not a chance whilst there are trans issues etc to be addressed. Watch out now for a growth in the numbers of diversity related jobs.....

In this area at least, it's the Tory County Council which is responsible for fixing potholes. Today's elections weren't for the county council.

Well, I'm

I thought this election was for County Councils and Unitary Authorities?

Callistemon21

growstuff

Urmstongran

After the counting is done & dusted, let’s hope the local councils fix the pot holes, keep the streets and parks tidy etc rather than going on about cakegate etc

Mind you - Not a chance whilst there are trans issues etc to be addressed. Watch out now for a growth in the numbers of diversity related jobs.....

In this area at least, it's the Tory County Council which is responsible for fixing potholes. Today's elections weren't for the county council.

Well, I'm

I thought this election was for County Councils and Unitary Authorities?

Not in Essex (and in some other places). There were no elections for the County Council and they are responsible for potholes. It's different in other areas, where there are unitary authorities. Where I live, there are three layers of local government and there weren't elections for any of them.

Did Essex have Borough Council elections, then?
It seems to me that all this is overly complicated.

Callistemon21

Did Essex have Borough Council elections, then?
It seems to me that all this is overly complicated.

Not where I live. Some areas of Essex have unitary authorities and I think some of them had elections.

Cambridgeshire is just over the border and I know South Cambridgeshire District Council had elections, but not Cambridgeshire County Council.

This is a summary of local government in Essex:

www.essex.gov.uk/local-councils

In addition, there are parish and town councils.

I think most counties have the same kind of pattern, which is different from unitary authorities and cities such as London and Manchester.

PS. I agree - it's overly complicated and means many people don't know who's responsible for what.

It is simpler in Wales, there are 22 Local Authorities, all run separately. They are a County Council if they cover a rural/market towns county, and Borough Councils if they cover a city. They do the same thing though, there’s no duplication.

Thurrock and Southend City on Sea are both unitary authorities and they had local elections.

Definitely an over complicated system, DH and I were talking over dinner and we came to the conclusion that if every seat on a council was up for election at the same time it could be a car crash. Local civil servants would have far too much responsibility until new councillors bedded in

Casdon

It is simpler in Wales, there are 22 Local Authorities, all run separately. They are a County Council if they cover a rural/market towns county, and Borough Councils if they cover a city. They do the same thing though, there’s no duplication.

Thanks Casdon, I was trying to work out how to explain it!

Some boundaries have been recently, we have moved ward without moving house but it was a logical change in our instance.

Oh dear

Some boundaries have been changed recently,

Casdon

It is simpler in Wales, there are 22 Local Authorities, all run separately. They are a County Council if they cover a rural/market towns county, and Borough Councils if they cover a city. They do the same thing though, there’s no duplication.

There's no duplication of responsibility here. It's just that people don't understand who is responsible for each area of local government. They also seem to think that local government is responsible for how many doctors and dentists there are. I guess it suits some people in charge because they can shrug their shoulders and say "it's not me guv".

Callistemon21 I can’t get my head round the English system, it just feels like too many layers, at least in Wales it’s clear who to blame when things go wrong!

growstuff

Casdon

It is simpler in Wales, there are 22 Local Authorities, all run separately. They are a County Council if they cover a rural/market towns county, and Borough Councils if they cover a city. They do the same thing though, there’s no duplication.

There's no duplication of responsibility here. It's just that people don't understand who is responsible for each area of local government. They also seem to think that local government is responsible for how many doctors and dentists there are. I guess it suits some people in charge because they can shrug their shoulders and say "it's not me guv".

Our Health Boards are coterminous with the local authorities as well. It just makes life easier for everybody.

Casdon

It is simpler in Wales, there are 22 Local Authorities, all run separately. They are a County Council if they cover a rural/market towns county, and Borough Councils if they cover a city. They do the same thing though, there’s no duplication.

Not sure your second sentence is correct Casdon - Conwy county has a Borough council and we definitely don’t have a city within the area.