What is an electoral review?

Our electoral review will recommend new electoral arrangements for Thanet District Council. We will propose:

• the total number of councillors elected to the council in the future;
• the number of wards;
• the number of councillors representing each ward;
• ward boundaries; and
• the names of wards.

How to get involved

This is a public consultation and we welcome views from individuals and organisations across Thanet on where they think new ward boundaries should be drawn.

We are minded to recommend that 42 councillors should be elected to Thanet District Council in the future.

This is 14 fewer than the current number of councillors.

We are now inviting proposals to help us draw up a pattern of wards to accommodate 42 councillors.

In drawing up new electoral wards, we must balance three legal criteria, namely:

• to deliver electoral equality: where each councillor represents roughly the same number of electors as others across the district;
• that the pattern of wards should, as far as possible, reflect the interests and identities of local communities;
• that the electoral arrangements should provide for effective and convenient local government.

We will treat all submissions equally, and judge each case on its merits and against the legal criteria.

If you wish to put forward a view, we would also urge you to ensure that evidence supports your submission.

For example, if you wish to argue that two areas should be included in the same electoral ward, make sure you tell us why they should be together, providing evidence about community facilities, ties, organisations, and amenities, rather than simply asserting that they belong together.

There is more advice on our website about how you can get involved in the consultation.

Our website features technical guidance that explains the process and our policies, as well as guidance on how to take part in each part of the process.

We have also set up a webpage dedicated to the review of Thanet, where you can find all the relevant information, access interactive maps of the current ward boundaries, and give your views.