Local Authority Insight Series: Elections

Join electoral law experts Mark Heath and Emyr Thomas as they look at the challenges faced by returning officers when running elections and look forward to how the new Elections Bill might change the landscape in future.

They address:

• What are most common – and tricky – issues encountered by local authorities when running an election?
• How changes to electoral law and guidance might affect this year’s elections, especially in Wales.
• Dealing with a crisis: what should returning officers do if things fall apart and who can they turn to?
• The progress of The Elections Bill 2022 and how might this affect the running of future elections.

About the speakers:

Mark Heath

Mark has over 30 years of service within the public sector. He was until December 2016 working at Southampton City Council where he was Solicitor to the Council (and Monitoring Officer) for 20 years. Subsequent to that he held the positions of Director of Place and subsequently Chief Operating Officer at Southampton.

Mark however remains as the Returning Officer for elections at Southampton, a post he has held since 1994. He was the South East Regional Returning Officer for the 2009 and 2014 European Parliamentary Elections, the Regional Counting Officer for the South East Region for the AV Referendum in 2011 and the European Referendum in 2016, and the Police Area Returning Officer for Hampshire for the Police and Crime Commissioner Elections in 2012 and 2016. As one of the leading figures in the electoral field, he serves on several groups convened by the Government and the Electoral Commission on electoral law, policy and practice.

Emyr Thomas

Emyr is a Partner and Parliamentary Agent at Sharpe Pritchard LLP. He is acknowledged as an expert in electoral law and advises election administrators on the complex procedural requirements connected with running elections and referendums. He also acts for Returning Officers when the conduct an election is challenged and has been instructed by ROs in the most significant election cases of the past decade. Emyr advises non-aligned campaigning organisations on spending during election periods and has advised individuals and organisations who have been the subject of investigations by the Electoral Commission.