Essex
Review History
This timeline shows the key stages of the review process:
Councillor numbers
We decide how many councillors an authority should have.
Initial consultation
We ask local people and organisations to tell us about their communities.
Consultation on proposals
We consult with local people and organisations to help us refine our proposals.
Final report
Our recommendations for new electoral and boundary arrangements.
Making our recommendation into law
We ask Parliament to approve our recommendations.
Effective date
New arrangements apply to elections after this date.
We review the electoral and boundary arrangements of councils to make sure they are fair. Our reviews include at least two rounds of public consultation before we make recommendations for change.
We are carrying out an electoral review of Essex County Council because it has been a long time since the last review and the number of electors per councillor varies a lot across the council.
| 21 March 2023 | We decide how many councillors there should be |
| 28 March - 31 July 2023 | We carry out an initial public consultation on communities |
| 28 November 2023 - 19 February 2024 | We carry out a public consultation on our proposals |
| 9 July 2024 | We publish our recommendations |
| 11 September 2024 | We ask Parliament to approve our recommendations |
| May 2026* | New arrangements apply to local elections |
* 2025 elections for Essex have been postponed to 2026 by The Local Authorities (Changes to Years of Ordinary Elections) (England) Order 2025.
Visit our 'How reviews work' pages for more information on the review process.
Latest Information
Effective date
The Essex (Electoral Changes) Order 2024 was made in Parliament on 13 November 2024.
Previous stages
Making our recommendation into law
Parliamentary scrutiny of our recommendations
A draft Essex (Electoral Changes) Order 2024 was laid in Parliament on 11 September 2024.
If there is no successful objection by a member of the Commons or Lords within 40 parliamentary sitting days the draft Order will become law.
Final report
Our recommendations for new electoral and boundary arrangements were published on 9 July 2024.
As a result of our final recommendations, we are making changes to the electoral arrangements for the following parish/town councils:
Consultation on proposals
We have proposed a new pattern of divisions. We want to hear the views of local people and organisations to help us produce our recommendations for change.
Initial consultation
We ask local people and organisations to tell us about their communities.
Councillor numbers
Decision on the number of councillors
We have decided that Essex County Council should have 77 councillors.
Previous Reviews
Previous reviews are held on the UK Government Web Archive