County Council Elections

The next County Council Elections will be held in 2013.

County Council Elections are normally held every four years, on the first Thursday in May, although the Secretary of State can notify another date in specific circumstances. The first full election for Worcestershire County Council following local government re-organisation was held in 1997 (shadow elections and also a combined poll with a General Election).

Since then full Council elections were held on 7th June 2001, 5th May 2005 and 4th June 2009. These elections were also combined with a general election in 2001, 2005 and a European Parliamentary Election in 2009.

Results of the last County Council Elections - 4 June 2009

There were 57 seats (52 electoral divisions) within the County for the election on 4th June, 2009. The Conservative Party have the biggest share of the seats and is the majority political group on the Council, with the distribution of seats as follows:

• Conservative 41
• Liberal Democrat 8
• Labour 3
• Independent Community & Health Concern 2
• Liberal 1
• Wythall Residents Association 1
• Independent 1

      2009 Results and data referring to previous elections

County Electoral Divisions

Worcestershire is currently divided into six areas based on the boundaries of the District Councils. Each district is divided into wards and polling districts and those precise areas are used separately for the election of district councillors. County Electoral Divisions are the geographical areas which apply to the election of county councillors. There are 52 Electoral Divisions. The pattern of electoral divisions changed for the 5 May, 2005, election following a periodic electoral review undertaken by the Boundary Committee for England and approved by the Electoral Commission. This involved a reduction in the number of electoral divisions from 57 to 52, although there will still be 57 councillors elected. Two councillors are returned for each of the divisions in the Redditch district area and the Stourport-on-Severn division. The remaining divisions return one councillor.

The County Returning Officer normally appoints a Deputy Returning Officer (DRO) from each of the district areas in the county to manage the conduct of an election when they occur.

County Returning Officer and Election service contact:

Patrick Birch
Director of Corporate Services and County Returning Officer
County Hall
Spetchley Road
Worcester
WR5 2NP

Telephone: 01905 766670
Email:  smallinson@worcestershire.gov.uk