Electoral Reform Society: One-party run UK councils waste £2.6bn a year
Councils run by just one political party could be wasting as much as £2.6bn a year, according to a new study out this week from the Electoral Reform Society.
The report, which compared councils dominated by one party to more electorally-competitive councils, found that so-called single party councils were saving about £2.6bn less each year than their more-competitive counterparts.
The report also found that one-party councils were 50 per cent more likely to be corrupt than competitive councils.
The Electoral Reform Society argues that one-party councils are the result of the “first past the post” voting system and says that implementing the Scottish system, or “Single Transferable Vote”, where voters rank their preferences and votes are reapportioned in multiple voting rounds, would lead to fewer one-party councils and less waste.