Choosing the Mayor, Councillors and Parliament Chapter 10

Elections are when people in an area make a choice or vote on who should represent their local area. A Councillor represents the area locally and a Member of Parliament (MP) represents the area nationally, in a building called The Houses of Parliament This chapter is about voting, mayors and elections.

What is voting and when and how is it done? Voting is making a choice between a number of people or a choice on a certain issue and showing support for it. This often means choosing between several different people standing for election. The person voting decides who they think will be the best person- called a candidate, for their local area. The candidate who gets the most people to vote for

A person voting for that candidate helped them to win the election. choosing people. The national or local g which asks the people voting a question on one

Example of a referendum

whether they wanted to have an elected mayor. The majority of people in Manchester said No.

Mencap Liverpool. Registered Office Address Federation House, Hope St, Liverpool, L1 9BW. Company Limited by Guarantee. Registered Charity Number 1004262. Company Registered Number 2146838 (England) In other cities, like Liverpool, the council decided they

Mayor, but we were given a choice of people to pick the person we thought would be best at the job.

Who can vote? You must be 18 or over You must not be in prison You must be registered to vote You must be judged capable of making a choice or a decision for yourself. Someone with a learning disability can vote provided they understand what voting is, and are able to make a choice between different candidates.

How do you vote? Firstly, you have to be registered. In Liverpool, this can be done by:

Phone - call 0151 233 3028

Online visit the aboutmyvote website and fill in an application form.

Postal Vote - you can post your vote to Electoral Services in your area. Registering for postal voting can be done online at the about my vote website. People with a learning disability can be supported to vote they can have somebody go and actually vote for Voting by . All local residents people who live in homes within the local area who have registered to vote will be sent a voting card in the post or a form which they can use to vote by post. You will get this a few weeks before an election happens

www.mencapliverpool.org.uk T: 0151 707 8582 Page 2 of 7 The card will tell you the date, time and place to go This is called a polling station. It will be somewhere close to your house. Polling stations are often in a school, church or community centre. Everyone votes on the same day and you can go anytime from early in the morning to late at night When the voting has finished, all the boxes are taken away- often to somewhere like the town hall, and they are carefully counted to see who has got the most votes.

Always read the instructions for filling in the ballot paper carefully, even if you have voted before.

The ballot paper lists the name of each candidate along with their party name, party logo and their address.

Depending on where you live election you will be able to vote for between one and three candidates. The instructions at the top of your ballot paper will tell you how many candidates you can vote for.

Simply put an X (a cross) next to each candidate that you wish to vote for. You do not have to use all of your votes; the suggested number is a maximum.

If you make a mistake then you can ask the polling staff to give you another ballot paper.

Why should we vote?

good citizen to help decide how the country is run. It is important for individuals with a learning disability to vote in elections because the decisions that are made by the people we vote for affect important things like how much money we have and what services like hospitals and the police are like.

www.mencapliverpool.org.uk T: 0151 707 8582 Page 3 of 7 Elected Mayors The government passed a law called the Localism Bill which has allowed 12 cities to have elected mayors.

Liverpool were one of the cities allowed to have an elected mayor and the city council thought this would be a good idea. In May 2012 there was an election in

Mayor.

Candidates were busy campaigning -sometimes putting on rallies in local pubs - or debating issues on local radio with other candidates.

The Mayor should be seen by lots of people. He or she should tell everyone what a great place Liverpool is to live in.

The Mayor will be able to manage the City Council and its Councillors in the way the Mayor sees best. A Mayor will also have the final say on what money from the local council goes where.

The Mayor must also appoint a team or cabinet to concentrate on important areas like jobs, the environment or council spending.

Joe Anderson was chosen to be the first Directly Elected Mayor of Liverpool in 2012. Before being the mayor, he was the Leader of Liverpool City Council- this was the most senior elected position in the council before we had a mayor.

www.mencapliverpool.org.uk T: 0151 707 8582 Page 4 of 7 Guide to local and general elections Local elections are different to national elections. A person standing or elected in a Local Election is called a Councillor. These elections happen every four years.

Local Elections are usually two years before a national election better General elections also happen about every four years.

Local councillors are meant to work with local people on local issues and are based within the local community.

A candidate in a General Election is standing to be an MP (a Member of Parliament). They are still supposed to represent their local area but on national issues, rather than just things that are happening locally. MPs are often in a place called Westminster in London which is where the Houses of Parliament are based.

The political party (such as Conservative, Labour or Liberal Democrats), who gets the most votes, is normally in charge of running the country. If they do get quite

have to ask another party to join up with them- they

We currently have a coalition between The Conservative party and the Liberal Democrats.

MPs vote and decide on the policies in Parliament that affected everyone in the whole country. The government also decides how much money to give to each local council. In 2010, Liverpool City Council was given much less money than before compared to other places in the country. Lots of people thought that was

www.mencapliverpool.org.uk T: 0151 707 8582 Page 5 of 7 wrong because Liverpool has lots of people that are poor or sick and so it needs more money from the government to run services to help.

The council and its councillors elected by the local people in the local elections decide what services to spend the money on. They also decide who provides these services and who receives them. A good example of this would be Bus Travel or Social Care.

Candidates standing in is best to do in the local area. This is what the elections are all about choosing the people you think have the best ideas about how to run the local area.

You can find out information about what each candidate is planning to do if they are elected. This information is in a document called a manifesto. Some candidates

easier for people with a learning disability to learn about their ideas.

Websites

For more information on the Localism Bill - http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/localgovernment/pdf/1818597.pdf

Liverpool City Council website www.liverpool.gov.uk

Liverpool City Council website, information on Mayoral elections - http://liverpool.gov.uk/council/voting-and-elections/Mayoral-elections-2012/The-role- of-mayor/

www.mencapliverpool.org.uk T: 0151 707 8582 Page 6 of 7 More places for good information explaining the details of local elections are available from The Guardian website and Direct Government websites - http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2006/apr/04/localgovernment.uk http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/governmentcitizensandrights/ukgovernment/politicalparties andelections/dg_073243

Mencap website - www.mencap.org.uk/all-about-learning-disability/laws-and-rights/voting

Direct Gov website for information on mental capacity and the law - www.direct.gov.uk/en/governmentcitizensandrights/mentalcapacityandthelaw/makingd ecisionsforsomeoneelse/dg_186479).

About my vote website - www.aboutmyvote.co.uk/register_to_vote/electoral_registration_applica.aspx

Liverpool City Council website - www.liverpool.gov.uk/council/voting-and-elections/find- polling-station/