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Electoral Statistics

Each year, the Office for National Statistics publishes the number of local government and parliamentary electors registered to vote in the UK. These include the number of 'attainers', a term which describes people who attain the age of 18 during the currency of the register (so, for the latest data, after 1st December 2017 but before 1st December 2018).

Note that in England there are two main reasons why the registered numbers of electors in an area can change from year to year:

a change in the size of the population who are entitled to vote; for example, due to international migration, local birth rates or student migration
a change in the proportion of the eligible population who actually register to vote; for example, more people registering as a result of better canvassing

Key Facts for Somerset

Following an increase in 2016 after three successive years of decline, the number of local government electors in Somerset increased again in 2017.
There were 420,715 local government electors registered in Somerset as at 1st December 2017, up from 415,619 a year earlier (an increase of 1%). Numbers of electors increased in all local authority district areas.
The number of parliamentary electors (within Somerset’s five constituencies) was 412,524, up from 409,121 the previous year (also an increase of 1%).
By comparison, nationally the number of local government electors increased by 1% between 2016 and 2017, as did the number of parliamentary electors.

Local Government electors

Table 1 below shows the annual trends in numbers eligible to vote in local government elections by Somerset district, at 1st December each year.

**Table 1 Trends in Eligible voters by Somerset Districts**
	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
SOMERSET	416,544	418,968	422,203	411,619	410,348	395,388	415,619	420,715
Mendip	85,637	86,357	86,968	85,252	85,833	80,998	85,346	86,777
Sedgemoor	89,636	90,457	90,436	89,308	88,644	88,770	91,699	92,458
South Somerset	128,581	128,934	130,921	130,711	128,602	119,793	126,795	127,623
Taunton Deane	84,073	85,156	85,777	78,199	79,811	79,377	84,477	86,059
West Somerset	28,617	28,064	28,101	28,149	27,458	26,450	27,302	27,798

Note: The total number of local government electors consists of residential qualifiers and attainers, including peers and European Union citizens.

Parliamentary electors

Table 2 below shows the annual trends in numbers eligible to vote in parliamentary elections by Somerset constituency, at 1st December each year (source: ONS).

**Table 2 Trends in Eligible voters by Somerset Constituencies**
	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
Bridgwater & West Somerset	82,936	82,815	82,728	81,816	80,795	79,824	82,507	83,194
Somerton and Frome	82,150	82,370	83,174	82,650	82,166	77,797	81,932	82,487
Taunton Deane	82,882	83,723	84,162	76,989	78,505	78,187	83,150	84,295
Wells	79,989	80,448	80,676	79,099	79,168	76,873	80,608	81,473
Yeovil	82,771	82,760	83,788	83,420	82,157	76,351	80,924	81,075

Note: The total number of parliamentary electors consists of residential qualifiers, attainers and overseas electors.

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Did you know?

There has been a big increase since 2001 in the number of residents with a Level 4 (e.g., Bachelor degree) or above qualification. There are now more people qualified to at least Level 4 (25.6%) than people with no qualifications (22.4%). - 2011 Census