A PETITION TO AMEND THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT 1972 FOR METROPOLITAN BOROUGH COUNCIL ELECTIONS

When I vote at a polling station, I would like to think that it would make a difference.

A PETITION TO AMEND THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT

In every national election, the voters can change the party in Government. However, in the local Metropolitan Borough Councils, only 1/3 of the councillors are ever up for re-election in any one year. Tameside has 57 councillors in total and in any one year only 19 of those councillors face re-election.

When any one party has a huge number of councillors (52 Labour and 5 Tories in Tameside), it creates a huge problem in local democracy. This means that if, in any local election, every single person in Tameside was unhappy with the council and wanted to change the party in control by, for example, voting for the Green Party or UKIP, they could not do it! 

Even if they lost every one of there 19 councillors, Labour would still have 33 out of 57 and would still be in control - it would take at least 2 elections to put another party in power. Not being able to change who runs the council in a single election is undemocratic and that is why I want all councillors to be up for re-election at the same time.

Also having one election every four years for all the councillors would be much cheaper than having an election every year for only 1/3 of them. Finally, if the party in power on a local council knew that they could lose control in a single election, then they will take much more notice of the views of local residents!

I have just created an on-line petition calling upon the UK Parliament to: "Amend the Local Government Act 1972 for Metropolitan Borough Council Elections” so that voters will be able to change the party in control of their council in a single election.

Click this link to find out more & to sign the petition and, if you could, Please also share it with others:

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/104553

Carl Simmons

Denton South Independent

Thursday 23rd July, 2015