DO you know which party runs your local council?


Are you happy about it? Well, either way it could be the time to reflect. 
There are too many councils the length and breadth of the land who are governed by the one party, comfortably in control, and are consequently not being held to account by any significant opposition.


To put into context, in 2013 one hundred and four councils in England and Wales had one party controlling 75per cent of the seats.


This is wholly out of proportion to the support the dominant party actually commands locally.


One issue that is playing out locally is greenbelt sites that could be under threat from development.


In Rainhill, this issue has led to a serving Labour Councillor of many years service being booted out by the local electorate.

On that note, well done to James Tasker, who I am sure will be a sound local voice.


The ultimate root cause here is a council dominated by the one party, which in this case happens to be the Labour party.

Both parliamentary seats in St Helens are safe Labour, and many council wards have also been safely held by Labour over many years.


The First Past The Post electoral system has exaggerated for parties running some councils across the country.


A more proportional electoral system would enable better accountability. The one dominant party would no longer be certain of winning all three or four council seats in a safe ward.


Scotland has been using the Single Transferable Vote (STV) since 2007. Under STV, a voter simply ranks as many or as few candidates as possible.


The Scottish experience has resulted in voters having a totally different electoral conversation to their English counterparts. An electoral ward dominated by one party has proven to be no longer a no-go area for the ward’s smaller parties.


Activists of minority parties and independent candidates are now able to seek next preference votes of people who would normally vote for a dominant party, as voters do not have the same fear of wasting their vote.


Every single one of Scotland’s local government elections since 2007 has seen a higher turnout compared to the local elections in England.


STV is also used in local elections in Northern Ireland. Plus, Wales is considering allowing councils the option of using STV in their local elections.


There are councils the length and breadth of England, whether it be Tory-controlled or Labour-controlled, or by any other party, where voters simply do not have an equal vote.

I say it is time England also used STV for local elections.


Andy J Watson, Bewsey, Warrington