Half of parish councils have held no election in at least 20 years
Half of parish councils in Wiltshire have not held an election in more than 20 years.
That was one of the findings of a survey of councils in the county by Wiltshire Council.
The survey found that fifty per cent of parishes that responded to the survey had not held an election since at least 2005.
However, 23 per cent of respondents said seats had been contested in the most recent elections, held in May 2025.
Eight in ten (79 per cent) of elections took place in towns and cities as opposed to rural parishes.
When vacancies arise, councils can ‘co-opt’ an individual if there is not more than one candidate to contest each seat.
Six in ten (59 per cent) of elections of parishes said it was common for them to co-opt ‘significant numbers’ of their councillors.
Even larger town and parish councils are not immune to co-option.
In May there were 14 nominations for 16 vacancies on Marlborough Town Council, which is still trying to fill its remaining empty seat.
In Devizes, three candidates applied for a single seat left vacant after last parish election. A new councillor was co-opted by sitting councillors, who voted on their favoured candidate.
Meanwhile, Biddestone, Broadchalke, Little Somerford, Maiden Bradley, and Tidworth all currently have councillor vacancies.
The survey results were used to prioritise parish councils for review, determining whether they had too many, or too few, seats and whether boundaries needed adjusting to take account of population changes.
The report said that whilst the average electorate per parish in 1,500 this ranges from more than 31,000 in Salisbury to parishes with fewer than 50 electors.
The council’s Electoral Review Committee agreed to roll out reviews of parish councils, starting with those in the Royal Wootton Bassett, Devizes and Marlborough Area Board areas.
The committee also agreed to review Purton, where a growing population was brining the Wiltshire Council division close to the point of a boundary review by the Local Government Boundary Commission.