Whole Council elections

1. Maidstone Borough Council on 8 December 2021 passed a resolution to move from elections by thirds to a scheme of whole-council elections and is now subject to the scheme for whole-council elections under section 34 of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 (as amended);
2. The elections under whole-council elections will first take place in 2024 at the timing of the ordinary elections;
3. Whole-council elections means that all wards of the Borough, and all Councillor vacancies will be up for election at the same time each with a term of 4 years.

This explanatory document is also available for public inspection at the Council’s principal office at:

Alison Broom, Chief Executive

Explanatory document - Whole Council elections

At its meeting on 8 December 2021 Maidstone Borough Council adopted the following motion:

That Maidstone Borough Council hereby adopts a scheme of whole council elections, meaning an electoral cycle of one election every four years with all councillors being elected, with the first such election being in 2024.”

1. The matter had previously been considered by Council on 29 September 2021, it was reconsidered by Council by virtue of Part 3.1, Rule 21.2 of the Constitution that requires at least one third of the whole number of the Council Members to sign a motion for a matter to be reconsidered within six months.  A motion was submitted on 29 November 2021; it had more than the necessary number of signatories.
   Democracy and General Purposes Committee Reference to Council
2. The legislation governing the move to whole council elections is the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 as amended by the Localism Act 2011. The Acts give Councils the power to decide whether to move to whole council elections, elections by halves or elections by thirds.
3. The legislation governing the move to whole council elections requires certain actions that must be taken during the process. One requirement is to have carried out a consultation on the proposal. This was undertaken in July/August 2021 with a consultation document sent to 10,000 randomly chosen households and an online survey available.  This followed the Council’s approach for its residents’ survey. The outcome was significantly in favour of whole council elections being adopted.
   Democracy and General Purposes Committee – 8 September Report
4. When the resolution for introducing whole council elections was passed by Council it specified the year in which the first ordinary election of the Council at which all Councillors are to be elected simultaneously will take place as 2024.
5. A vote in favour of whole Council elections was made by a two thirds majority of those voting (39 for, 5 against and 8 abstentions).
6. Whilst the topic of whole council elections has been considered numerous times the most recent summary of factors to consider is included in the report to Democracy and General Purposes Committee in June 2021.
   Democracy and General Purposes Committee - June 2021 – Appendix 1 Whole Council Elections Analysis