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45-557: Birmingham Aston was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom . From 1918 to 1974 it elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first-past-the-post system of election . The constituency was created for the 1918 general election , when the boundaries of the city of Birmingham had been expanded. One of the areas included in the city's expansion

90-420: A few cases one). From 1535 each Welsh county and borough was represented, by one knight or burgess. The franchise was restricted differently in different types of constituency; in county constituencies forty shilling freeholders (i.e. landowners) could vote, while in boroughs the franchise varied from potwallopers , giving many residents votes, to rotten boroughs with hardly any voters. A county borough

135-666: A form or degree of mixed-member proportional representation . The existing constituencies were created, effectively, for the first general election of the Scottish Parliament, in 1999. When created, all but two had the names and boundaries of Westminster constituencies. The two exceptions were the Orkney Holyrood constituency , covering the Orkney Islands council area , and the Shetland Holyrood constituency , covering

180-422: A general principle, where constituencies contain more than a small rural element they should normally be designated as county constituencies. Otherwise they should be designated as borough constituencies." In Scotland, all House of Commons constituencies are county constituencies except those in the cities of Glasgow , Edinburgh , Aberdeen , Dundee and three urban areas of Lanarkshire . In England and Wales,

225-448: A more suitable label cannot be found. Where used, "The compass point reference used will generally form a prefix in cases where the rest of the constituency name refers to the county area or a local council, but a suffix where the rest of the name refers to a population centre." This is the reason for the difference in naming between, for example, North Shropshire (a county constituency ) and Reading West (a borough constituency ). In

270-586: A number of single-member first-past-the Post constituencies, matching the way Westminster MPs are elected. Following the decision that all MEPs should be elected by some form of proportional representation , the Labour government passed the European Parliamentary Elections Act 1999 , creating eleven constituencies on Great Britain, which were first used in 1999 . The South West England constituency

315-667: A parliamentary or assembly constituency is responsible for the conduct of elections in the parliamentary or assembly constituency concerned as per the Representation of the People Act, 1951 . Returning officer is the head of elections in a particular constituency. Generally, in the case of Lok Sabha elections, it is the District Magistrate and in the case of state assembly elections, it is the Sub-Divisional Magistrate who

360-414: A state electoral commission who heads the local divisional office full-time, and oversees elections in their division, or an employee of a private firm which carries out elections and/or ballots in the private and/or public sectors, or anyone who carries out any election and/or ballot for any group or groups. In Canada , at the federal level, the returning officer of an electoral district is appointed for

405-594: A ten-year term by the Chief Electoral Officer . The returning officer is responsible for handling the electoral process in the riding, and updating the National Register of Electors with current information about voters in the electoral district to which they are appointed. Before enactment of the Canada Elections Act in 2000, in the case of a tie between the two leading candidates in an election,

450-590: A walkover: For GRCs with a walkover: Section 49, Subsection 7E, Paragraph A of the Parliamentary Elections Act [or Section 32, Subsection 8D, Paragraph A of the Presidential Elections Act], are stated, only if the total number of overseas electors lawfully entitled to vote at the election in that electoral division is less than the difference between the number of votes given to the two best-performing candidates or group of candidates. In

495-434: Is ex-officio returning officer. Returning officer is the statutory authority to conduct the polling, counting process and to decide validity of ballot paper and election commission has no power to overrule him or her. The Election Commission of India nominates or designates an officer of the government or a local authority as the returning officer for each of the assembly and parliamentary constituencies in consultation with

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540-530: Is held by the city sheriff, and in the other areas by the county registrar of the area (a senior court official). For local elections, the position is held by the administrative head of the local council. The returning officer for presidential elections and referendums is a senior official in the franchise section of the Department of the Environment. In New Zealand, the returning officer is in charge of overseeing

585-668: Is in the Holyrood area of Edinburgh , while the main meeting place of the Parliament of the United Kingdom is the Palace of Westminster , in the City of Westminster . There are 73 Holyrood constituencies covering Scotland , and each elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first-past-the-post system . Also, the constituencies are grouped into eight electoral regions, and each of these regions elects seven additional members , to produce

630-513: The 2005 United Kingdom general election , the House of Commons had 646 constituencies covering the whole of the United Kingdom. This rose to 650 in the 2010 election following the Fifth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies . Each constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the " first-past-the-post " system of election. The House of Commons is one of the two chambers of

675-601: The Acts of Union 1707 , Scottish burghs were grouped into districts of burghs in the Parliament of Great Britain , except that Edinburgh was a constituency in its own right . After the Acts of Union 1800 , smaller Irish boroughs were disenfranchised, while most others returned only one MP to the United Kingdom Parliament. The Reform Act 1832 reduced the number of parliamentary boroughs in England and Wales by eliminating

720-524: The House of Commons . Within the United Kingdom there are five bodies with members elected by electoral districts called " constituencies " as opposed to " wards ": Between 1921 and 1973 the following body also included members elected by constituencies: Electoral areas called constituencies were previously used in elections to the European Parliament , prior to the United Kingdom's exit from

765-518: The Scottish Parliament (Constituencies) Act 2004 , which enabled the creation of a new set of Westminster constituencies without change to Holyrood constituencies. The new Westminster boundaries became effective for the 2005 United Kingdom general election . There are 40 Senedd constituencies covering Wales , and each elects one Member of the Senedd (MS) by the first-past-the-post system . Also,

810-562: The Shetland Islands council area . For Westminster elections, these council areas were covered (and still are covered) by the Orkney and Shetland Westminster constituency . In 1999, under the Scotland Act 1998 , the expectation was that there would be a permanent link between the boundaries of Holyrood constituencies and those of Westminster constituencies. This link was broken, however, by

855-539: The bicameral Parliament of the United Kingdom , the other being the House of Lords . There are fourteen London Assembly constituencies covering the Greater London area, and each constituency elects one member of the assembly by the first-past-the-post system . Eleven additional members are elected from Greater London as a whole to produce a form or degree of mixed-member proportional representation . Constituency names and boundaries remain now as they were for

900-510: The county for a county constituency or the mayor or chairman of the local council for a borough constituency . If a constituency overlaps district and county borders, the returning officer is designated by the Secretary of State for Justice . In practice, the task of conducting the election is delegated to an acting returning officer , who is usually a senior officer in the local authority (the only duties which can be reserved and undertaken by

945-488: The first general election of the assembly, in 2000. The assembly is part of the Greater London Authority and general elections of the assembly are held at the same time as election of the mayor of London . There are 18 Northern Ireland Assembly Constituencies : four borough (for Belfast ) and 14 county constituencies elsewhere (see below). Each elects five MLAs to the 90 member NI Assembly by means of

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990-427: The high sheriff or mayor is returning officer, the acting returning officer is designated by the Secretary of State for Justice . In Scotland , there is no office of acting returning officer and the position of returning officer is not an honorary one. The returning officer for general elections is the same person who has been appointed returning officer for the election of councillors in the local authority in which

1035-424: The single transferable vote system. Assembly Constituency boundaries are identical to their House of Commons equivalents. The constituencies below are not used for the election of members to the 11 district councils . Scottish Parliament constituencies are sometimes called Holyrood constituencies, to distinguish them from Westminster (House of Commons) constituencies. The Scottish Parliament Building

1080-422: The (acting) returning officer for the name of seat , hereby give notice that the total number of votes given for each candidate at the election of date was as follows, list of candidates and the number of votes received . And that name of winning candidate(s) has been duly elected to name of democratic body for name of seat (or name of office ). The returning officer for a constituency additionally acts as

1125-544: The Boundary Commissions for England , Wales , Scotland and Northern Ireland the power to create names for constituencies, and does not provide a set of statutory guidelines for the Commissions to follow in doing so. Constituency names are geographic, and "should normally reflect the main population centre(s) contained in the constituency". Compass points are used to distinguish constituencies from each other when

1170-594: The European Union (see European Parliament constituency ). In local government elections (other than for the London Assembly) electoral areas are called wards or electoral divisions . House of Commons, Scottish Parliament, Senedd and Northern Ireland Assembly constituencies are designated as either county or borough constituencies, except that in Scotland the term burgh is used instead of borough . Since

1215-557: The Presidential Elections Act]. The RO's duties also encompasses announcing the best-performing losing candidates as non-constituency Members of Parliament (NCMPs) post-elections in the government gazette. In Sri Lanka , returning officers are appointed by the Commissioner of Elections under the Registration of Electors Act, No. 44 of 1980 for all presidential, general (parliamentary), provincial and local government elections held in

1260-466: The United Kingdom elected its Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) through twelve multimember European Parliament constituencies . One, Northern Ireland , used single transferable vote , while the eleven covering Great Britain used the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation . For its first European Parliamentary elections in 1979 Great Britain was divided into

1305-511: The advent of universal suffrage , the differences between county and borough constituencies are slight. Formerly (see below ) the franchise differed, and there were also county borough and university constituencies. Borough constituencies are predominantly urban while county constituencies are predominantly rural . There is no definitive statutory criterion for the distinction; the Boundary Commission for England has stated that, "as

1350-485: The constituencies are grouped into five electoral regions, and each of these regions elects four additional members , to produce a form or degree of mixed-member proportional representation . The current set of Senedd constituencies is the second to be created. The first was created for the first general election of the National Assembly for Wales, in 1999. Before its withdrawal from the European Union in 2020,

1395-399: The constituency is situated. If a constituency covers more than one local authority area, the Secretary of State for Justice designates which local authority returning officer will discharge the function. In Northern Ireland , the Chief Electoral Officer acts as the returning officer. Returning officers normally announce the results after the count in the following manner: I, name ,

Birmingham Aston (UK Parliament constituency) - Misplaced Pages Continue

1440-456: The council. The spending limits for election campaigns are different in the two, the reasoning being that candidates in county constituencies tend to need to travel farther. For by-elections to any of these bodies, the limit in all constituencies is £100,000. In the House of Commons of England , each English county elected two " knights of the shire " while each enfranchised borough elected "burgesses" (usually two, sometimes four, and in

1485-529: The event where the total of overseas voters is more than the difference between the number of votes given to the two best-performing candidates, the RO may declare the number of votes cast in Singapore for the candidates, and announce the date and premises for the counting of overseas votes, in accordance with Section 49, Subsection 7E, Paragraph B of the Parliamentary Elections Act [or Section 32, Subsection 8D, Paragraph B of

1530-459: The island. Normally public officers are appointed as returning officers and they may appoint assistant returning officers to assist them. In the Parliament of Sri Lanka , the Secretary-General acts as the returning officer for votes conducted within the Parliament. In England and Wales the post of returning officer for general elections is an honorary one, held by the high sheriff of

1575-465: The position of returning officer in borough constituencies is held ex officio by the mayor or chairman of the borough or district council, and the high sheriff of the county in county constituencies. The administration of elections is carried out by the acting returning officer, who will typically be a local council's chief executive or Head of Legal Services. The role, however, is separate from these posts, and can be held by any person appointed by

1620-413: The previous common electoral quota for the whole United Kingdom and replaced it with four separate national minimal seat quotas for the respective Boundaries commissions to work to, as a result the separate national electoral quotas came into effect: England 69,534; Northern Ireland 67,145, Wales 58,383 and in Scotland only 54,741 electors. The Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011 gives

1665-465: The returning officer are related to the receipt of the writ and the declaration of the result, and only if written notice is given by the returning officer to the acting returning officer ). In an English or Welsh constituency where the returning officer is the chairman of the local district council or the mayor if a borough council, the electoral registration officer is automatically the acting returning officer. In an English or Welsh constituency where

1710-443: The returning officer would cast the deciding vote. Since 2000, a tie between two leading candidates automatically results in a by-election . The provinces and territories of Canada each have their own returning officers. Germany has a Federal Returning Officer and a returning officer in each state . In Hong Kong , the returning officer is usually an administrative officer of the government . The returning officer of

1755-788: The rotten boroughs. It also divided larger counties into two two-seat divisions , the boundaries of which were defined in the Parliamentary Boundaries Act 1832 , and gave seven counties a third member. Similar reforms were also made for Scotland and for Ireland . The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 ( 48 & 49 Vict. c. 23) equalised the population of constituencies; it split larger boroughs into multiple single-member constituencies, reduced smaller boroughs from two seats each to one, split each two-seat county and division into two single-member constituencies, and each three-seat county into single-member constituencies. The House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1958 , eliminated

1800-570: The state government/union territory administration. In addition, the Election Commission of India also appoints one or more assistant returning officers for each of the assembly and parliamentary constituencies to assist the returning officer in the performance of his functions in connection with the conduct of elections. In the Republic of Ireland , the post of returning officer in Dublin and Cork

1845-474: The voting process in each electorate . The Returning Officer (RO) is in charge of overseeing the conduct of parliamentary (by-elections and general elections) and presidential elections. The Returning Officer declares results for the parliamentary general elections and the presidential elections in the following manner: For single member constituencies (SMCs) : For group representation constituencies (GRCs) : For presidential elections : For SMCs with

Birmingham Aston (UK Parliament constituency) - Misplaced Pages Continue

1890-558: Was expanded from the 2004 elections onward to include Gibraltar , the only British overseas territory that was part of the European Union , following a court case. Returning officer In various parliamentary systems, a returning officer is responsible for overseeing elections in one or more constituencies. In Australia a returning officer is an employee of the Australian Electoral Commission or

1935-855: Was the Aston area, which had formerly been part of Warwickshire. From 1885 to 1918, Aston Manor was a borough constituency in Warwickshire . 1918–1950 : Parts of the County Borough of Birmingham wards of All Saints', Aston, Lozells, and St Mary's. The newly created seat was smaller and more the northern part of central Birmingham than Aston Manor had been. 1950–1955 : The County Borough of Birmingham wards of Aston, Lozells, and St Paul's. 1955–1974 : The County Borough of Birmingham wards of Aston, Gravelley Hill, and Stockland Green. The latter two wards had formerly been part of Birmingham Erdington . St Paul's ward became part of Birmingham Ladywood . Lozells ward

1980-459: Was the constituency of a county corporate , combining the franchises of both county and borough. Until 1950 there were also university constituencies , which gave graduates an additional representation. Similar distinctions applied in the Irish House of Commons , while the non-university elected members of the Parliament of Scotland were called Shire Commissioners and Burgh Commissioners. After

2025-401: Was transferred to Birmingham Handsworth . In the 1974 redistribution, this constituency disappeared. Aston ward became part of Birmingham Handsworth , while Gravelley Hill and Stockland Green wards became part of Birmingham Erdington . United Kingdom constituencies In the United Kingdom (UK), each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one member to

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