Electoral Reform Society Scotland

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Electoral Reform Society Scotland
The 2008 Scottish Councillor Survey


Local elections one year on
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Electoral Reform Society Scotland

• Four key aspects to a councillors work
• Campaigning
• Policy-making
• Multi-member wards
• Civic engagement

Local elections one year on
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Electoral Reform Society Scotland
Kerley Report (2000) Democracy, by its very
definition, is a matter that involves the whole
population. We are concerned that a significant
proportion of the population appears to take
little part in the democratic process.
Local elections one year on
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Electoral Reform Society Scotland
Project time frame February to May 2008 First
surveys sent out 25th February Reminder
surveys sent out 25th March    Total N 454
(out of 1222) 37 of all councillors in Scotland
elected in May 2007 Conservatives 59 (13)
(12) Labour 97 (21) (28) Liberal
Democrat 81 (18) (14) SNP 137 (30)
(30) Independents 66 (15) (16) Other 14
(3)  
Local elections one year on
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Electoral Reform Society Scotland
Targeted follow-up interviews conducted Council
leaders 10 Chief Executive officers 7 Other
councillors 30 Total 47
Local elections one year on
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Electoral Reform Society Scotland

In favour of STV being introduced
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Electoral Reform Society Scotland
Broken down by party
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Electoral Reform Society Scotland
Broken down by age
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Electoral Reform Society Scotland
Broken down by education
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Electoral Reform Society Scotland
Was campaigning affected?
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Electoral Reform Society Scotland
Was campaigning affected?
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Electoral Reform Society Scotland
Was administration formation affected?
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Electoral Reform Society Scotland
Was administration formation affected?
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Electoral Reform Society Scotland
Has policy-making been affected?
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Electoral Reform Society Scotland
Has policy-making been affected?
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Electoral Reform Society Scotland
Multi-member wards effect on parties
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Electoral Reform Society Scotland
Multi-member wards effect on parties
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Electoral Reform Society Scotland
Multi-member wards effect within parties
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Electoral Reform Society Scotland
Multi-member wards effect within parties
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Electoral Reform Society Scotland
Multi-member wards parties and voters
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Electoral Reform Society Scotland
Multi-member wards parties and voters
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Electoral Reform Society Scotland
A majority of councillors were in favour of the
introduction of STV and feel it has affected
all/most aspects of local government in Scotland
a lot     The larger ward areas presented the
main challenge when campaigning   The scrutiny
of policy-making where one party has dominated
disproportionately to its vote share has improved
although partisanship between SNP and Labour
members has also risen in councils where the two
are the main rivals   Competition within wards
has positively affected both work load and
inter-party co-operation (whether welcome or
not!) although there is concern over the loss of
the traditional link between a single councillor
and his/her smaller number of electors
Conclusions