Local Election: Your Town, Your Vote
It’s local election time and Nailed will be explaining the where, when, how and what residents of DE56 will be voting for this May.
The Basics
The elections to Amber Valley Borough Council in Derbyshire will take place on Thursday 5th May 2016. One third of the council seats will be up for grabs with the Conservative party currently holding overall control of the council.
As it stands, the composition of the council is:
- Conservative 24
- Labour 21
Residents will also be asked to cast their vote on who will be the new Police and Crime Commissioner.
Polls will be open between 7am and 10pm on Thursday, May 5th
Your nearest polling station will be written on your polling card or you can contact your local authority.
More information about the elections, including voting by post, can be found at the AVBC website here: http://www.ambervalley.gov.uk/council-and-democracy/councillors,-democracy-and-elections/elections/elections-05-may-2016.aspx
We have a Winner!
What happens after the polls close? Well, the results for each individual race will be announced between 2am on Friday, May 6th and the end of Saturday, May 7th.
A majority of the counting will be done on the night of the election, but in an effort to save money some constituencies and regions may choose to count the votes the following day.
But first.
We reached out and asked a candidate from each party to submit their vision for the town. Below are the links to those that responded. In the interest of fairness we have now closed submissions. You can find all the articles under our Politics tab on the main menu.
- Green Party: Sue MacFarlane
- Labour Party: Ben Bellamy and Maurice Neville
- Conservative Party: Cllr Alan Cox
- Liberal Democrats:
- UKIP:
- Independent: Dave Fisher
We want to hear from you.
Your opinion matters. Do you know who your candidates are? Have you been informed of their policies? Have they spoken about the local issues that affect you? Have you met them in person? Is political infighting putting you off the process? Do they represent how you feel?
Comment below and tell us about your experience.
Thank you Nailed for this informative article. I am sure many residents will know all of the candidates as they are active in their local area, but it is good to be aware of what they feel are important issues. I have to say, sadly, that without this article I was only aware that one of the candidates was actually standing, having received no literature from any of them through the door, so am pleased to be able to read their statements here. I find political infighting totally off putting and irresponsible behaviour. We are asked to vote for candidates to represent the people of DE56 and they should have the best interests of residents at heart. I feel that many issues at local level have very little to do with party politics and councillors should be able to work together cross party on issues that are important to all of us. I am not sure how some are going to do that to the best of their ability with the in fighting that seems to be apparent in certain cases.
As for the Police Commissioner vote, I personally feel that the role of Commissioner is an expense we do not need and that it is open to abuse. I much prefer the old system and consequently am tempted to spoil my ballot paper on that one!
I love the alternative news that Nailed provides. Long may it continue and thank you to all those who are involved.
I have been doing a little more research about the Police and Crime Commissioner role. On the 27th May 2015 in the Queens Speech I note the sentence ” New legislation will ….. improve the law on policing and criminal justice”. The Policing and Crime Bill was introduced to the House of Commons on 10.02.2016 . One of the main provisions of the bill includes enabling Police and Crime Commissioners to take on the responsibilty for fire and rescue services when a local case is made. I don’t know about anybody else, but I think that is a pretty dumb idea! Then I listened to ther four candidates for Derby City, you can find the dvd here at – http://www.itv.com/news/central/2016-04-27/video-profiles-hear-from-each-police-crime-commissioner-in-derbyshire. It turns out that one of the candidates would actually like to abolish the role of Crime Commisssioner, so on second thoughts, maybe I should not spoil my ballot paper!