Representation and local democracy: Geographical variations in elector to councillor ratios

In a democracy, one personʹs vote should count as much as anotherʹs vote. While a range of factors can affect this, including the electoral system, party support bases, party campaigning, and the effectiveness and identity of representatives, a key principal is that for each political unit the number of electors per representative should be as equal as possible. Only when equality in electorate to representative ratios is established can equity in other demographic infrastructures be pursued. To achieve representation equality in English local authorities the Electoral Commissionʹs Periodic Electoral Review process considers for each electoral ward the number of councillors, current and forecasted electorates and revisions to boundaries. Here, using 2005 boundaries, we examine variations in elector to councillor ratios in England. Comparing these ratios with 2001 Census data, we investigate whether variations relate to ethnic minority population distributions. We found considerable differences in representation ratios between four types of local authority. Generally, County Districts have fewer electors per councillor and therefore better representation ratios. There are progressively higher ratios for Unitary Authorities and London Boroughs; Metropolitan Districts have most electors per councillor. Comparing each wardʹs ratio with the representation of its associated district we found most wards lie within what might be considered an acceptable range of variation. Sub-district representation variability relates to urban–rural variations in ward extent and the use of one-, two- and three-seat systems. There is no evidence that variations in ward ratios relate systematically to distributions of ethnic minorities. Despite this, to capture local population characteristics, we advise utilising ethnic group demographic characteristics when forecasting electorates.