Polling district and polling places review 2025
Introduction and background
1. Under the Representation of the People Act 1983 (RPA83) the council has a duty to divide the borough into parliamentary polling districts and to designate polling places for each one. The same districts are used at all elections and referendums.
2. A Notice of Review of Polling Districts and Places was published on 14 August 2025, seeking representations and views from residents and other interested parties.
3. The notice is available on the council’s webpage, here: Notice of review of polling districts and polling places
4. All representations will be published at the conclusion of the review on the council’s website and will also be available to view in person by appointment.
5. Ward boundaries and Parliamentary constituencies can NOT be changed by this review. Polling district boundaries can be changed by this review.
The Returning Officer’s initial proposals
6. There was a comprehensive review of the polling districts and polling places in 2021, which followed the ward boundaries review conducted by the Local Government Boundaries Commission.
7. That review was extensive and the resulting polling scheme worked very successfully in the elections held in 2022 and 2024. As a result the The Returning Officer is proposing to make only minimal changes where circumstances require them. If anyone wishes to make major alterations they should contact the Electoral Services Manager as soon as possible to allow time for further and wider consultation.
8. There are, however, a few changes that the Returning Officer would like to see. For example, there are some venues that were designated for polling at the last review but are now unavailable. Where that is the case, these initial proposals and mapping show where the Returning Officer believes polling should take place instead.
9. Similarly, there were some very small polling districts created by the previous review to allow for a Parliamentary by-election to take place under the old Parliamentary boundaries. The 2024 General Election brought the new boundaries into force, so there is no further use for these very small sub-polling districts and the Returning Officer is proposing to join them back into their "parent" polling districts. This does not change the location of polling venues for voters.
Guidelines
10. The following criteria were used when drawing up the proposals. The first two are required by electoral law; the others are taken from previous reviews and proposal documentation. They are general guidelines and not strict rules.
- The council must seek to ensure that all electors have such reasonable facilities for voting as are practicable in the circumstances.
- The council must seek to ensure that so far as is reasonable and practicable every polling place is accessible to electors who are disabled.
- Ideally the polling place should be in its own polling district.
- Polling districts should have no less than 1000 and no more than 3000 electors per polling district and ideally between 2000 and 2500 electors.
- Polling places should not be shared by two wards.
- Where possible “natural” boundaries should be used, e.g. railways, major roads, waterways.
- All properties in a minor road or estate should be in the same polling district.
- Polling places should be “logical”; that is, electors should not have to pass another polling place to get to their own place.
- Schools will be avoided where 1. polling prevents the school in question remaining open to pupils and 2. other suitable venues are available within the same polling district.
Access for Disabled voters
11. All polling stations that are currently used by the council have reasonable, if not always ideal, facilities for Disabled voters. Some venues require adaptation for polling day such as ramps or additional lighting.
12. All polling stations have been visited by electoral services staff, and a survey of each has been completed. The survey used is provided by the Electoral Commission, with some additional data gathered that is useful locally.
13. As part of the formal consultation process, information about the review will be forwarded to local Disability action groups for comment and/or alternative proposals.
Current arrangements and Returning Officer's proposals
14. The arrangements shown below as "current arrangements" are the formally designated polling places and districts agreed by the council at the last review.
15. The Returning Officer has made some proposals for changes where a. designated venues have become unavailable or b. where polling districts can now be merged into single districts because they no longer need to be split in readiness for Parliamentary by-elections.
Electorates
16. The electorate figures shown are local government electors as at 1 August 2025. This electorate was chosen over the smaller Parliamentary electorate to ensure stations will be big enough to accommodate the maximum number of electors.
Help to have your say
If you need help to access the online surveys and information, please contact us at electoral.servicesadmin@lbhf.gov.uk
If you prefer to send us your comments via email or by post, please use electoral.servicesadmin@lbhf.gov.uk or write to Electoral Services, Hammersmith Town Hall, London W6 9UH
Closing date
Please complete the survey or send comments or representations by 5pm on 5 November 2025.