With this year’s county council elections only a few weeks away, we’ve undertaken new analysis that has revealed the parlous state of local democracy in England and Wales.
 
Evidence shows 21 million people are now living in the local government equivalent of ‘One Party States’ – with single parties holding undeserved supermajorities, and other parties incapable of providing viable opposition.
 
One hundred and four councils in England and Wales now have a single party holding in excess of 75% of council seats. In every case this is wholly out of proportion to the support the governing parties enjoy locally – and has given these administrations carte blanche on official business.
 
Of course all three major parties have ‘One Party States’ – which include both urban and rural authorities. ??ERS has defined ‘One Party States’ as authorities with a single party holding over 75% of council seats, leaving opposition incapable of providing any checks of council decision making. With a 2/3 alone majority parties have the ability to overturn standing orders, and change the way the councils are run. We’ve allowed the possibility of some party rebels offering pseudo-opposition to the one party state in their area.
 
Any decent democracy requires a viable opposition. But the 21 million living in local One Party States don’t have that luxury. These authorities enjoy power without real accountability – and council taxpayers deserve better.
 
We can’t rely on governing parties to keep themselves in check. Our councils need a critical mass of opposition for basic scrutiny to work – it’s what the public keep voting for. But our broken voting system is handing out fake supermajorities to parties out of all proportion to their real support.
 The coming elections will barely make a dent on these One Party States, and it’s why they breed complacency. When councillors in Slough and Tunbridge Wells voted themselves pay increases they knew they were untouchable.
 
Quite simply no councillor and no council should be beyond the reach of voters.
 
It’s time for England and Wales to follow the lead of Scotland, and abandon First Past the Post for a fair voting system in local elections. Since they made the move in 2007 most of Scotland is still run by single party governments – but all councils now have vibrant opposition.
 
Fair votes have made Scotland’s One Party fiefdoms a thing of the past. There are lessons here for anyone who believes local democracy in England and Wales should be better.
 
It’s time to make the change: the solution is right in front of us. Fair votes in Scotland has worked. The same single transferable vote (STV) system the Scots use could offer Welsh and English voters so much more.

 

Republished by kind permission of The Electoral Reform Society

http://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/blog/do-you-live-in-a-rotten-borough

 
If you’ve been failed by local democracy we want to hear from you. Visit our Rotten Boroughs page and tell us your story…

The One Party States of England and Wales
 
Full data by region and party is available for download here…
 
The Lib Dems One Party States

 PopulationLD Seats%LD Seats
Eastleigh

125,199

38

86.36%

Oadby & Wigston

56,170

22

84.62%

Sutton

190,146

43

79.63%

Total

371,515

  

 

Labour’s One Party States

 PopulationLab Seats%Lab Seats
Barking & Dagenham

185,911

51

100.00%

Knowsley

145,893

63

100.00%

Newham

307,984

60

100.00%

Leicester

329,839

52

96.30%

Sandwell

308,063

68

94.44%

Rotherham

257,280

58

92.06%

Tameside

219,324

52

91.23%

Nottingham

305,680

50

90.91%

Manchester

503,127

87

90.63%

Halton

125,746

50

89.29%

Bolsover

75,866

33

89.19%

South Tyneside

148,127

48

88.89%

Hackney

246,270

50

87.72%

Salford

233,933

52

86.67%

Slough

140,205

35

85.37%

Wigan

317,849

63

84.00%

Gateshead

200,214

55

83.33%

St. Helens

175,308

40

83.33%

Barnsley

231,221

52

82.54%

Wakefield

325,837

52

82.54%

Neath Port Talbot

139,812

52

81.25%

Liverpool

466,415

73

81.11%

Barrow-in-Furness

69,087

29

80.56%

Rhondda, Cynon Taff

234,410

60

80.00%

Coventry

316,960

43

79.63%

Doncaster

302,402

50

79.37%

Blaenau Gwent

69,814

33

78.57%

Greenwich

254,557

40

78.43%

Stoke-on-Trent

249,008

34

77.27%

Stevenage

83,957

30

76.92%

Tower Hamlets

254,096

39

76.47%

Corby

61,255

22

75.86%

Luton

203,201

36

75.00%

Total

7,488,651

  

 

Conservative One Party States

 PopulationCon Seats%Con Seats
Waverley121,5725698.25%
Shepway107,9694495.65%
Bracknell Forest113,2054095.24%
South Bucks66,8673895.00%
East Hertfordshire137,6874692.00%
Tonbridge & Malling120,8054890.57%
Maldon61,6292890.32%
Broxbourne93,6092790.00%
New Forest176,4625490.00%
Havant120,7003489.47%
East Hampshire115,6083988.64%
Hambleton89,1403988.64%
Bromley309,3925388.33%
Windsor & Maidenhead144,5605087.72%
Christchurch47,7522187.50%
East Northamptonshire86,7953587.50%
Surrey Heath86,1443587.50%
Hertsmere100,0313487.18%
Breckland130,4914787.04%
Sevenoaks114,8934787.04%
Kent1,463,7407386.90%
Adur61,1822586.21%
Arun149,5184885.71%
Runnymede80,5103685.71%
South Staffordshire108,1314285.71%
Wealden148,9154785.45%
Forest Heath59,7482385.19%
Fenland95,2623485.00%
Ribble Valley57,1323485.00%
St. Edmundsbury111,0083884.44%
Wychavon116,9443884.44%
Dacorum144,8474384.31%
West Oxfordshire104,7794183.67%
Bournemouth183,5004583.33%
East Dorset87,1663083.33%
Mid Sussex139,8604583.33%
Central Bedfordshire254,3614983.05%
South Norfolk124,0123882.61%
Bexley231,9975282.54%
Chiltern92,6353382.50%
Lichfield100,6544682.14%
Spelthorne95,5983282.05%
Cherwell141,8684182.00%
Tandridge82,9983480.95%
Buckinghamshire505,2834680.70%
Staffordshire848,4895080.65%
Daventry77,8432980.56%
Essex1,393,5876080.00%
Suffolk Coastal124,2964480.00%
Westminster219,3964880.00%
Wokingham154,3804379.63%
Rochford83,2873179.49%
Chichester113,7943879.17%
East Riding of Yorkshire334,1795379.10%
Wandsworth306,9954778.33%
Lincolnshire713,6536077.92%
Kensington & Chelsea158,6494277.78%
Horsham131,3013477.27%
Uttlesford79,4433477.27%
Tunbridge Wells115,0493777.08%
South Northamptonshire85,1893276.19%
Northamptonshire691,9525575.34%
Braintree147,0844575.00%
Huntingdonshire169,5083975.00%
South Hams83,1403075.00%
Test Valley116,3983675.00%
Wellingborough75,3562775.00%
West Berkshire153,8223975.00%
Total12,060,925  

 

Republished by kind permission of The Electoral Reform Society

http://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/blog/do-you-live-in-a-rotten-borough

 

Add new comment

(If you're a human, don't change the following field)
Your first name.
(If you're a human, don't change the following field)
Your first name.
(If you're a human, don't change the following field)
Your first name.