At Peterborough City Council, we hold elections for our 60 city councillors in ‘thirds’. The cycle consists of:
- Year 1 = 18 seats elected (May 2022)
- Year 2 = 20 seats elected (May 2023)
- Year 3 = 22 seats elected (May 2024)
- Year 4 = no city council election takes place, also known as a ‘fallow’ year (2025)
Benefits of election by thirds
- Providing great stability for the council in terms of its membership. Electing in thirds reduces the risk of wholesale change within the council (although for some this may be desirable and so not a risk but an opportunity) and allows for succession planning because there is always a mixture of new and experienced councillors for the council.
- Electing by thirds provides the electorate a great opportunity to be involved in decision-making at the council, and arguments have been put forward that this makes councillors more democratically accountable.
- It has been stated that some smaller political parties would find it difficult to field enough candidates to contest all seats at an ‘all out’ elections. However, electing by thirds does not, in and of itself, create a greater availability of candidates for any party, but those candidates who are willing to stand have more frequent opportunities to do so.
Upcoming and previous elections
2022 consultation on changes to the electoral cycle
In 2021, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) recommended during an external review of our finance and governance that we formally consider moving to ‘all-out’ city council elections every four years.
This would have meant holding an election for all 60 council seats every four years.
Between 25 July and 26 September 2022, we ran a public consultation to seek views from residents on how often we should hold elections and when to begin such elections.
After the consultation finished, we held a specially convened council meeting to finalise a decision. At this meeting, the Council did not agree to move to a scheme for whole (or 'all out') elections. We therefore remain with the current electoral system of voting by thirds.
Visit our Democracy Peterborough website for accompanying documents, including:
- Minutes from the Council meeting
- The report taken to the extraordinary meeting of the Council
- Results of the consultation exercise
- Explanatory document
This explanatory document is published in accordance with the requirement of Section 35 of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007. This document is also available for inspection between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday at the Town Hall, Bridge Street, Peterborough, PE1 1GF.