Have you ever been with your
mum or dad to go and vote?
They might go into a school- like
ours and into a little booth like
these.
Inside they put a cross on a piece
of paper to choose one person they
want to represent them.
At the end of the day all the
crosses are counted.
The person with the most crosses
is elected.
In our country there are two main
kinds of election.
Local and national elections.
Local elections are for
representatives on local and parish
councils.
Local councils deal with housing,
rubbish collection, schools, sports
centres, care for those who need
support and other local services.
Local councillors can be anyone
over 21.
They go to meetings and make
decisions for those in their local
community.
Sometimes the people who voted
for them agree with their decisions
and sometimes they don’t.
The other kind of elections we have
are national elections.
We elect members of parliament
(M.P.) to represent us in the
government of our country, at least
every five years.
Your M.P. speaks for the people in
your area in the House of
Commons.
The national government, in
London, makes decisions on many
different things that affect your life.
These include: hospitals, schools,
the environment, relations with
other countries, the police and the
economy.
There are 646 M.P.s and they are
all different!
Do you know who your M.P. is?