Greens oppose "all-out" council elections
Bristol's Green Party has come out against the idea of holding local elections every four years.
A third of the city's 70 seats are currently contested every year.
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City Hall, College Green
But now the political parties are moving towards agreement over "all-out" elections to coincide with the mayoral election, starting in 2016.
The Greens, however, oppose the move, claiming that there would be less incentive for people to get involved in the democratic process.
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Rob Telford, Green candidate for Ashley said: "We all know that any system worth adopting must increase citizen participation and not limit it.
"Yet these changes would widen the gap between the public and their elected representatives, and give people less incentive to participate, vote or stand for election themselves - either as an independent or for a political party. We believe people should be able to decide on who represents them more often than these proposals allow."
Anna McMullen, Green candidate for Easton and a member of the Ashley, Easton and Lawrence Hill Neighbourhood Partnership said: "We need to empower the Bristol public to be more regularly involved in our city's politics, not less.
"The council should be bringing in measures to help people's voices be heard, like switching to proportionally representative voting, or giving people the right to recall their councillors. People feel like their opinions aren't listened to as it is. This would only make it worse."
South Gloucestershire, North Somerset and Bath and North East Somerset councils all hold "all-out" elections every four years.
People in favour of four-yearly elections say the advantages are:
+ political stability for a fixed term,
+ more chance for change - voters can boot out a party if they are unpopular,
+ less complicated to understand,
+ easier to motivate people to vote if they believe they can make a difference.
Comments
by charliecycle
Tuesday, January 15 2013, 3:23PM
“Bristol Rovers. What is the point?”
by Roversteve
Tuesday, January 15 2013, 2:42PM
“Whose the Green Party ?”
by ashleyvale
Tuesday, January 15 2013, 1:04PM
“I disagree with the Green Party here. I think a 4 yearly election would stimulate public interest in the local political process, especially if it coincides with mayoral elections.”
by Bert_Hindle
Tuesday, January 15 2013, 12:46PM
“So, am I right in saying that under this proposed change, councillors would have seats for 4 years instead of 3? If so, that would be less campaign costs (and of course, election costs), which should suit everyone. I would still like to see a back-up mechanism which allowed local residents to oust councillors by vote & force a by-election.”
by Hartman81
Tuesday, January 15 2013, 11:56AM
“Of course the real reason they oppose it is because they probably couldn't afford to campaign on a Bristol-wide scale all at once. The '1/3' system does allow smaller parties to use their budget more effectively as they can spread the cost of campaigning across the city better with only a certain number of wards up for grabs each year.
However, it is not in the interests of the electorate to never have the power to completely change the council if it is not being managed the right way. It is stupid for us to still have tis system and for the whole city not to be able to all vote at the same time every 4 years.”
by bris28
Tuesday, January 15 2013, 11:06AM
“I'm afraid that I never take seriously anything our Green councillors or (would-be councillors) say.
Have never found them impresive. By having elections every four years there is more continuity in getting policies progressed through the council. Elections every four years mean less cost to the electors......perhaps the Greens in Bristol have yet to wake up to these facts. Wake up at the back of the class there.”
by smoosername
Tuesday, January 15 2013, 10:32AM
“A the Greens wonder why they aren't taken seriously.”
by Spiggett
Tuesday, January 15 2013, 10:11AM
“-Because the Greens (& Liberal Torycrats) will be "all out"..”