Voters in Swindon are being asked whether they think elections to the borough council should change.

Currently 19 of the authority’s 57 councillors are elected every year, with one year in every four ‘fallow’. Every councillor is elected for a four-year term, but an election three years out of four means there is constant change.

The members are to make a decision on whether to change, and have one ‘all-out election every four years, at an extraordinary meeting in November - and they are hoping to hear form as many people as possible beforehand to help them decide.

What do councillors think of the idea?

Conservative councillor Matthew Courtliff - “I believe thirds are potentially wasteful in terms of time and resource, and prevent the council from addressing strategic demands, due to the fact we’re hamstrung by purdah every year for three out of four years. At the moment, the political parties spend a good few months every year trying to score points from the opposition. A change to all-outs will encourage councillors of all parties to work more closely together to benefit Swindon and its residents. But, the most important factor is that we have an electoral system that reflects how and when residents want to vote, which is why we’re consulting them on their views and should ensure we have a system of democracy that takes into account their opinions”.

Conservative Mary Martin - “All out is more efficient in terms of executing council business, there is better continuity of personnel and working with officers. It’s a bigger event locally and so more likely to get a good turnout. It is also cheaper for the council. Certainty when a council has a four year mandate, enabling a strategic approach to policy and decision making to be adopted, can avoid uncertainty during the usual period of election campaigning and ‘purdah’. There is something to be said for having elections in thirds as you don’t run the risk of losing all your councillors at once so that some continuity of experience and knowledge always prevails”.

Conservative Dale Heenan - “ All councillors are elected for four years, and the change is about holding one election rather than three. Parish Councillors are elected on all-outs so why shouldn’t borough councillors be? A big benefit is that it will save the Swindon tax-payer more than £300,000. Elections once every four years means that the council can be judged as a whole, and people’s votes will make more of a difference. Elections by thirds means people have to vote at least three times to replace all of the councillors. Any councillor who doesn’t pull their weight will be more obviously shown up by all outs. If someone hasn’t heard of someone then they won’t vote for them! Party politics has less impact since experience shows that residents are prepared to vote two councillors of one party, and one from another party, if they think they are the most beneficial for the area. Realistically elections by thirds means that currently, some council business goes on hold from February through to May due to the legal constraints of the election period”.

Liberal Democrat group leader Stan Pajak - “I was on the county council in the mid-1980s when the Liberal-SDP alliance was having its moment and we were able to take control of the council.

“So with a four-year system, if something is happening in politics, it can give a party four years in power that doesn’t really reflect the true wishes of the electorate.”

Labour councillor Des Moffatt has concerns: “Going out on the knocker is what keeps us in touch with the voters. I’ve been on the knocker in the last few days and they’re not impressed with any politician.

“There are lazy councillors. If they get elected for four years, they can just sit back and pocket £8,000 and turn up here three or four times a year, and do nothing else for three-and-a-half years.

“It’s going out and campaigning and bringing back complaints about hedges not being cut – that’s what keeps us in touch with people.”