Councils across Wales have been warned they have just two years to improve local democracy, after a new report has highlighted major issues with the most recent elections in May.

Time for Change: The 2022 Welsh Local Elections and the case for STV, published by campaigners ERS Cymru, has highlighted a slew of uncontested seats and disproportionate results under the current first past the post system.

It comes as local councils in Wales have the chance to change voting systems, with each council now able to vote to move to a fairer system, the single transferable vote (STV).

However, councils will have to vote to move to STV by 15 November 2024, in order for this to take effect for the next elections in 2027.

Analysis of the 2022 Welsh local elections found that 74 seats in Wales were uncontested, meaning over 100,000 potential voters in Wales had no choice on who represents them in their local council.

Furthermore, there are eight councils in Wales with ‘unearned majorities’ where a party holds over 50 per cent of the seats on less than 50 per cent of the vote, a third of all councils.

The report also compares the Welsh local elections in 2022, with the Scottish local elections, where STV has been in place since 2007.

It finds that Scottish election results are dramatically more proportional, with only two local authorities in Scotland with ‘unearned majorities’ - just six per cent of councils compared with over one third in Wales.

It also finds that uncontested seats have vastly reduced in Scotland, with just 27 uncontested seats in total in the four elections since the voting system change, compared with 61 in the final First Past the Post election alone.

Jess Blair, director of ERS Cymru, said: “Our research shows a stark picture of a voting system that does not deliver for voters in Wales. Everyone should be able to go into a polling station on election day knowing their vote will count.”