Local democracy in Wales

An electoral system is the way we elect our representatives and determines how you vote at an election. The type of system we use decides whether our government truly represents us and whether we can hold them to account if they let us down.

In Britain today there are several voting systems used at different levels of government, and each one has different implications for voters, for parties, and for those elected.

Some electoral systems are better at making the numbers of those elected match the proportion of votes cast, some at linking elected representatives to constituencies and some give voters more choice over who is elected. Systems can also combine these benefits in different ways.

In Wales, for both local elections (County Council) and UK general elections (Westminster) the First Past the Post (FPTP) electoral system is used. 

Under this system, on election day, each voter is given a ballot paper with a list of candidates. In single-member wards, only one candidate per party will be listed, in multi-member wards there may be multiple candidates from the same party listed (up to the maximum number of seats to be won). Voters put an X next to their preferred candidate. In multi-member wards voters can put as many X’s next to their preferred candidates as there are seats available, i.e. two X’s for a two councillor ward. 

The votes for each candidate are counted up and the person with the most votes wins. They could have one more vote than their nearest rival, or 1000 more – under FPTP it doesn’t matter. Under this system it is very common for candidates to win with much less than 50% support.

• Disproportionate results
• Uncontested seats
• One party states 

In terms of local authorities in Wales, this means that often we see wildly disproportionate results. Over a third of our councils have a party holding power with a majority of seats without having a majority of votes. 

Linked to these disproportionate results is the issue of safe seats, where there is a perception that only one party can win an area. This can lead to other parties not fielding candidates in that area, meaning voters have a limited choice at the ballot box.

This also leads to wards where there aren’t enough candidates for an election to be held and candidates are elected unopposed (uncontested seats). At the local elections in 2022, there were 74 uncontested seats across Wales; 6% of all seats. In some areas the problem was worse. Gwynedd, for example, had 28 uncontested seats; 41% of all seats in that council. What this means is that voters in these areas don’t get a say in who their elected representatives are and lose their vote and their voice at election time. Over 100,000 people in Wales were affected by this at the last elections.

First Past the Post can also lead to one party states, where a party holds all, or nearly all, of the seats on a council (often without getting a similar share of the vote). In these areas, not only are votes for other parties not represented on the council, but political opposition is reduced to a minimum, affecting scrutiny.

The Single Transferable Vote (STV) is a form of proportional representation created in Britain. Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Malta, Scotland and Australia use this system for some or all of their elections.

Rather than one person representing everyone in a small area, bigger areas elect a small team of representatives. These representatives reflect the diversity of opinions in the area.

On election day, voters number a list of candidates; their favourite as number one, their second favourite number two, and so on. Voters can put numbers next to as many or as few candidates as they like and parties will often stand more than one candidate in each area.

Since Scotland moved to STV in 2007 they have seen more proportional results and far fewer uncontested seats. Our report Time for Change compared the results of the 2022 local elections in Scotland and Wales and found substantial differences between the systems. 

Here in Wales we have a situation where over a third of our councils have a party holding power with a majority of seats without having a majority of votes. This only happens in 6% of local authorities in Scotland.

STV means that the amount of seats a party or group gets matches the amount of support they receive. That is not happening right now. Currently half of local authorities (50%) here in Wales feature parties gaining 10% greater representation in the council chamber than they received at the ballot box. That happens in less than 19% of local authorities in Scotland.

It can also punish hard working parties. In 27% of councils in Wales, some parties or groups have a share of seats that is over 10% lower than the percentage of votes they won from the voters. This just does not occur in Scotland.

Figure 1: Comparison of percentage of councils with disproportional results between Welsh and Scottish local elections

On uncontested seats the figures speak for themselves. Scotland used to have a similar issue to Wales with 5% of seats in the final FPTP election in Scotland not contested, but since the change to STV in 2007 there has been a stark difference in uncontested seats compared to Wales.

Figure 2: Percentage of uncontested seats at local elections in Wales and Scotland 2007-2022

Overall STV has been better for voters in Scotland, and more broadly for democracy. 

An STV voting system means that the councillors elected to represent an area will more closely match the votes in that area than under the current First Past The Post (FPTP) system. 

It also means that you can feel confident in voting for your truly preferred candidate as your first preference without wasting your vote. If your first preference candidate doesn’t get enough votes to win a place on the council, your vote will be transferred to your second choice, and so on. Through this ranking system you have much more control over your vote than under the current system, meaning an end to tactical voting.

The Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021 gave the power to local authorities to vote to move to the STV from First past the Post (FPTP) (or vice versa). The Act requires councils to consult voters, community councils in the area and other stakeholders prior to a formal resolution. For a formal resolution to pass a two thirds majority is required meaning two thirds of councillors will need to vote in favour of it to pass. This would have to take place at a specific meeting convened for the vote, with written notice given to all councillors at least 21 days prior to the meeting. 

The deadline for the vote to take place is 15th November three years prior to the next ordinary election of the council, meaning for a resolution to take effect by the 2027 local elections, it must pass before 15th November 2024. 

A formal resolution can only be held once per term, so if a vote is held and fails it cannot be brought back that council term. Likewise if a formal resolution to move to STV passes, then a further resolution (i.e. to move back to FPTP) has no effect until two ordinary elections of the council have been held under the new voting system.

STV is simple for voters, who just have to rank candidates. They do this by numbering their favourite candidate as 1, their second favourite as 2, and so on. Voters can number as many or as few candidates as they like. 

The STV system has been used by voters in Scotland and Northern Ireland successfully for decades.

The best evidence we have for how long votes would take to count under an STV election in Wales is to look at Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland has a similar system of manual counting as what has been specified in the STV rules for Wales.

For local elections in Northern Ireland counts typically take one to two days.

The numbers on the ballot paper tell the people counting to move your vote if your favourite candidate has enough votes already or stands no chance of winning.

Each voter has one vote. Once the counting has finished, any candidate who has more number ones than the quota is elected. But, rather than ignore extra votes a candidate received after the amount they need to win, these votes move to each voter’s second favourite candidate.

If no one reaches the quota, then the people counting the vote remove the least popular candidate. People who voted for them have their votes moved to their second favourite candidate. This process continues until every vacancy is filled.

In Scotland, where STV has been in place for local elections since 2007, 152 Independent councillors were elected in the 2022 local elections along with 35 Green Party councillors demonstrating that both Independents and smaller parties are elected under STV. Independents also run three councils in Scotland outright, more than any other individual party. For further information on Independents visit our website. 

STV is a constituency-based system and voters still have a link with their elected representatives under STV. As STV is a system where voters rank individuals and not parties, there is a strong candidate-voter link. While single member wards will be abolished under STV, many examples of multi-member wards exist currently and councillors in these wards are still able to have a good link with their constituents.

STV is very different from List PR. Under STV the voter has much more control and flexibility over their vote than under List PR (or FPTP). 

Under List PR voters can only put an X next to the party list they wish to vote for (closed List PR) or next to the candidate they wish to vote for (flexible or open List PR). In an STV system voters are able to rank any candidates from any combination of parties or independents in order of their preference. 

The Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021 states that ward size under STV in Wales must be between 3 and 6 members. When Scotland moved to STV in 2007 their wards were all between 3 and 4 members, so we would expect the wards in Wales to be  3 or 4  members, except in very urban, highly populated areas. In fact Scotland has had an iterative process, adapting the system over time. They now have a range of sized wards with between 2-5 councillors in each (apart from Arran which is a protected island ward and elects one councillor).

Following the passing of a formal resolution to move to STV, Welsh Ministers will instruct the Local Democracy and Boundary Commission for Wales to conduct an initial review of the council area. They would consider the wards under an STV election in accordance with the STV rules for Wales and general principles e.g. a similar number of voters per elected member and consideration of communities.

There is no indication that the number of councillors in a local authority would change under STV. Indeed, the number of councillors in Scotland stayed the same under STV after the change in 2007.