Publisher's Synopsis
This report examines the potential impact of the introduction of proportional representation (PR) in British local government elections, at a time when new forms of local mayoral and cabinet government are about to be established. It shows that the introduction of PR would be likely to lead to a situation in which two-thirds of British local authorities would be hung (i.e. would lack majority political control). However, the capacity of hung authorities to form stable and proactive administrations has been growing over the past decade, and the report concludes that this increase in hung councils should not be regarded as a barrier to the introduction of PR. Indeed, the authors suggest that the dangers of closed and secretive forms of cabinet or mayoral government in the "one-party state" which would continue in the absence of PR, is a matter of much greater concern.
