2 May 2013 2017 → Start date May 2, 2013 | 29 18 | |
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Somerset county council election 2013
An election to Somerset County Council took place on 2 May 2013 as part of the United Kingdom local elections, 2013. 55 councillors were elected from 54 electoral divisions, which returned one county councillor each with the exception of the two-member Glastonbury & Street division. Members were elected by the first-past-the-post voting system for a four-year term of office. The electoral divisions were changed from those used at the previous election in 2009, reducing the number of county councillors from 58 to 55 from this election. No elections were held in North Somerset or Bath and North East Somerset, which are unitary authorities outside the area covered by the County Council.
Contents
The Conservative Party retained control of the council, despite having their majority reduced. They won 28 of the 54 seats contested on 2 May, in addition to the division of Coker, where the election was delayed until 16 May due to the death of one of the candidates.
All locally registered electors (British, Irish, Commonwealth and European Union citizens) who were aged 18 or over on Thursday 2 May 2013 were entitled to vote in the local elections. Those who were temporarily away from their ordinary address (for example, away working, on holiday, in student accommodation or in hospital) were also entitled to vote in the local elections, although those who had moved abroad and registered as overseas electors cannot vote in the local elections. It is possible to register to vote at more than one address (such as a university student who had a term-time address and lives at home during holidays) at the discretion of the local Electoral Register Office, but it remains an offence to vote more than once in the same local government election.