Cambridge Councillor Saves General Election Night In City

Regular readers of this blog will know that Giles McNeill has been supporting the campaign to Save General Election Night (facebook group here) since early September 2009.

In October, Cllr. Chris Howell, Conservative (Coleridge Ward), on Cambridge Council, proposed the following motion at a council meeting:

"This Council believes that the interests of democracy and the country are best served if the result of a general election is confirmed as soon as possible after the close of polls. It therefore strongly supports general election counts being conducted on election night immediately following the close of polls, and requests that the returning officer takes note of this opinion."

It was passed by the council and Cllr. Howell now reports on his blog that the council's chief executive and returning officer for Cambridge at the General

Election, Ms Antoinette Jackson, has sent him the following letter:

"As Returning Officer I have now had a chance to review the arrangements for election counts with the Democratic Services Manager and electoral services staff and have undertaken a risk assessment of the risks inherent in a Thursday night count, particularly for a combined election.

"I can confirm that we will go ahead with a parliamentary count on the Thursday night as in previous years."

Congratulations to Cllr. Howell and indeed the councillors from all parties in the city for making their views known and ensuring that General Election Night has been saved in Cambridge.

Government Chief Whip, Nick Brown MP, (Labour) Newcastle and Wallsend, has today supported the campaign to Save General Election Night, Jonathan Isaby has the story on ConservativeHome (here).

Acknowledgement: ConservativeHome | Local Government | 12/01/10