Local elections 2024: Why some councils have more seats being contested than others
With most people in the West Midlands being asked to vote in three separate elections, and three different voting formats being used, it is unsurprising that some people are finding the voting process confusing.
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The votes for the police and crime commissioners for the West Midlands, Staffordshire and West Midlands forces, will be held for the first time using the traditional 'first past the post' system, as will the poll for the elected mayor for the West Midlands.
Under this system, voters will simply be asked to select their preferred candidate, and the one who receives the most votes will be duly elected.
This is a departure from previous elections for both posts, which had been conducted under the 'supplementary vote' system, where electors were invited to vote for their first- and second-choice candidates.
The first-past-the post system will also be used in the council elections in Wolverhampton, Walsall, Sandwell and Cannock Chase. Here, voters will elect a councillor to represent their ward on their respective local authorities.
As is the normal custom, only a third of the seats will be up for grabs each year – each ward is represented by three councillors, who serve a four-year term, with one councillor from each ward facing re-election each year. No elections are held during the fourth year of the cycle.
This means that, in practice, we are unlikely to any change in control on Sandwell, Wolverhampton or Walsall Councils, where the ruling parties have comfortable majorities which are unlikely to be overturned in a single election alone. The situation is slightly different in Cannock Chase, which is more finely balanced.
However, in Dudley all 72 councillors will be up for grabs in this year's 'all up' election. This is due to boundary changes which took place over the past 12 months.
In this election, each ward will elect three councillors, with voters invited to select there three preferred candidates from the ballot paper. The three candidates in each ward securing the highest number of votes will be elected. This is a one-off, and the borough will revert to electing a third of its councillors through the 'first past the post' system in future elections.
For the first time, people wanting to vote at this year's elections will be required to bring photographic identification with them.
