§ 18. Mr. KINGasked the President of the Local Government Board whether he is aware of the unrepresentative character of many town and district councils, and the need of completing the local government registers; when will local government and 2334 municipal elections be held; and whether it is intended that all elected and co-opted members should retire before elections are held?
§ The PRESIDENT of the LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOARD (Mr. Hayes Fisher)I am aware that the local government elections have been postponed by the Elections and Registration Act, 1915, and subsequent enactments, but I am not prepared to say that the town and district councils are necessarily unrepresentative in character. The new registers of local government electors are in course of preparation, and in the absence of further legislation the ordinary elections for town councils and Metropoltan borough councils would be held in November next, and other local government elections in March, 1919. As regards the last part of the question, I may say that in the case of those bodies whose members retire triennially all the members will go out of office at the next election. In other cases the members will retire in the ordinary rotation.