Many of the individual election results across Argyll and Bute next month are hard to call, but one thing is certain – no single political party will be in power.
The council has run been since before the 2017 election by a coalition of Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and independents called TALIG (the Argyll, Lomond and the Islands Group).
And some sort of coalition is certain once all the May 5 votes have been counted, since none of the parties have nominated enough candidates to secure a majority.
With 36 seats available across 11 wards, the SNP and Conservatives have each put forward 13 candidates, the Liberal Democrats 11, Labour eight and Greens five, while there are 23 independents.
Where’s my polling station? Details are on your polling card – otherwise, see the list here. Polling stations are open from 7am to 10pm on. May 5.
How do I fill in the ballot paper? Council elections in Scotland use a Single Transferable Vote (STV system), meaning you should order the candidates by order of preference, with 1 next to your favourite, 2 by the second favourite and so on. In this example from 2017, the councillors were not decided until the eighth count:
But there are seven candidates in my ward, some of whom I really wouldn’t want to rank 5 or 6, let alone higher. You don’t need to put a number next to everyone but can leave some boxes blank, as explained in this video by The Electoral Commission:
What happens after I’ve voted? Each ward has a ‘quota’ figure; if enough candidates get this many votes as their first preference, then that’s it. If not, then there are further counts, using voters’ second, then third preferences etc.
Who can I vote for? All candidates for the three wards in the Helensburgh area have been asked to supply information via this website and it can be accessed here:
It really doesn’t matter who we elect. Most important decisions are made by the unelected officials. Speak to a councillor about any local problem and they will come back with the negative answer they get from the very highly paid, and all powerful, bureaucracy.
That’s really down to whether the councilors are doing their jobs or not. I agree that current A&B issues, like the crazy schools initiative, show signs of the officials not being held to account.