Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government written question – answered at on 22 June 2026.
Andrew Snowden
Opposition Assistant Whip (Commons)
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, which local authorities have been selected to participate in pilot schemes testing alternative voting arrangements under the Representation of the People Bill.
Samantha Dixon
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Representation of the People Bill is currently undergoing its parliamentary passage and does not include any power to pilot alternative voting arrangements. The Government worked with four local authorities - Cambridge, Milton Keynes, North Hertfordshire and Tunbridge Wells - to pilot flexible voting at the local elections in May, using powers conferred by the Representation of the People Act 2000.
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
