County, District, Town & Parish Elections

County, District, Town and Parish elections determine the councillors who run your local services. Councillors are elected for a term of four years, although not all elections are held at the same time on the same year.

The way you vote for local councillors is similar to voting in a general election. The candidate who gets the most votes, wins – this is called a 'first-past-the-post' voting system. When you vote in a local election, the ballot paper will list all the candidates standing. The boundary of the area is determined by the type of seat being contested.

The Lewes District is represented by 41 elected councillors. Within this, there are several smaller town and parish areas, each with their own elected representatives whose numbers vary depending upon their size.

County Councillors represent larger areas than parish, town or districts. They may represent the same geographical area, but determine the use of different services. East Sussex County Council has 49 elected members.

• Town & Parish Councils
• District Councillors
• County Councillors
• Electoral Boundaries

Parliamentary Elections

In a general election, every area in the country votes for one Member of Parliament (MP) to represent them in the House of Commons. There are 650 geographical areas, called constituencies.

Each eligible voter has one vote in their local constituency, and the candidate with the most votes becomes the MP for that area. This voting system is called 'first past the post'.

Usually the political party with the most MPs then forms the government – though two or more parties with a combined majority of MPs may form a coalition government. There has to be a general election at least every five years. The Prime Minister decides when to call an election.

The Lewes District is covered by two parliamentary constituencies, Lewes and Brighton Kemptown.

• Brighton & Hove City Council: Your MPs
• UK Parliament
• Number 10

European Elections

Elections for the European Parliament take place every five years. The last European elections were in June 2009, and the next elections will be in June 2014. Since the 2009 elections there have been 72 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) representing the UK. The UK is divided into 12 regions, and each region has between three and ten MEPs.

MEPs are elected under a proportional representation system. In Britain, you have one vote to elect all of your MEPs. Each party puts forward a list of candidates, called a regional list, and you vote for one of these lists or for an independent candidate. The parties are then allocated a number of MEPs according to their share of the vote.

In the south east of England, of which the Lewes District is a part, there are 10 MEPs elected.

• UK Office of European Parliament: Your South East MEPs

By-Elections

A by-election is held when a vacancy occurs during the life of the seat. It can be held for a County, District or Parish/Town council.
This can occur for a number of reasons including:

• failure to accept office 
• resignation 
• death
• ceasing to be qualified
• becoming disqualified 
• failing to sign an undertaking to observe the council's model code of conduct 
• failing to attend meetings

A by-election for a vacancy in a Parliamentary seat is held following the issue of the Writ of election. The appropriate electorate will be informed of the by-election and will have the opportunity to vote for a new representative on the respective seat.