Estate’s voter turnout as low as 19%

MORE than 80 per cent of voters on a Solihull estate did not bother to cast their ballot papers in last year’s local elections.

A breakdown of Solihull Council’s 17 wards found turnout in Kingshurst & Fordbridge was only 19.3 per cent, the lowest in the local authority.

Across Solihull as a whole, the average turnout in last May’s contest was 31.5 per cent, slightly trailing a national average of 33.2 per cent for councils of the same type.

But some wards in North Solihull continue to see much lower engagement. Aside from Kingshurst & Fordbridge, Smith’s Wood had a turn-out of 19.9 per cent and neighbouring Chelmsley Wood fared only slightly (22.06 per cent). By contrast, 38.5 per cent of Knowle voters had their say, double the Kingshurst & Fordbridge figure.

The figures are included in a report on the council’s draft public engagement strategy, which will be considered next week.

The local authority is keen to encourage more people to register to vote, noting that areas with the lowest levels of engagement tend to have a younger population and higher proportion of people renting. The average age in all three ‘Regeneration’ wards – Chelmsley Wood, Smith’s Wood and Kingshurst & Fordbridge – is around 36 years old.