How do local elections work?
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can explain what elections are, why campaigns are important and how local elections are conducted.
Key learning points
- A political party is an organised group of people who share similar beliefs and goals about how society should be run.
- A local election is a formal process for voters to choose people to represent their views on the council.
- Candidates run campaigns to tell local residents about their policies and ideas for the local area.
Keywords
Election - when people vote to choose their leaders or representatives
Ward - smaller, specific area within a local council's district
Candidate - a person who is standing for election
Campaign - actions or events organised by an individual or a group of people to achieve an aim
Manifesto - a statement published by a person or group of people which says what their aims and policies are
Common misconception
All candidates have the same level of resources and support during campaigns.
In reality, some candidates may struggle to reach voters due to limited funding or organisation, which can affect their visibility and chances of success.
Teacher tip
Schools or classes could run a mock election to demonstrate how the election process works in action.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Children or teenagers working; a new pub opening; a jewellery maker wanting to sell at a market. All of these need something from the council to do this. What is that called?
Q2.Some parts of the country have both a county council and then a district/borough/city council. What is this kind of local government structure called?
Q3.Match the word to its correct definition.
money that a council receives from funding and from local citizens
money a council spends
charges paid by a citizen or a business to a council
what councillors are paid instead of a salary
Q4.Which of these is not a main duty of a councillor?
Q5.In terms of work, it is very common for councillors to have a second ...
Q6.Empathy, approachability, trustworthy, hard-working, confident, empathetic. These are all kinds of that a local councillor may find helpful when working in their role.
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.The name for a person who is running to become a local councillor is a ...
Q2.Match the word or phrase to its correct definition.
a statement outlining a candidate’s policies and ideas
the voting system used in UK elections
a group of people with similar political and world beliefs
the day when people vote
the place where people vote
Q3.What campaign method is being used when candidates visit voters at their homes?
Q4.What is the name of the process used to choose a new councillor?
Q5.When a candidate takes action to build up support for their manifesto and ideas for the area, this is called ...
Q6.A councillor/candidate who does not belong to a political party is known as an councillor/candidate.
To help you plan your 7 citizenship lesson on: How do local elections work?, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 7 citizenship lesson on: How do local elections work?, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 3 citizenship lessons from the How does local democracy work? unit, dive into the full secondary citizenship curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.