At least 15,900 Wirral electors would vote somewhere new from May 2027. Every ward's proposed change, and how to object before 5pm on 18 September.

Wirral Council has published, ward by ward, where it wants people to vote at the next local elections. Add up the figures in all 22 documents and at least 15,900 electors would be sent to a different building from the one they use now. The consultation closes at 5pm on Friday 18 September 2026. (Wirral Council, Warding and Polling District Review 2026)

This is happening because the map underneath has changed. In September 2025 the Local Government Boundary Commission for England confirmed new ward boundaries for Wirral, to take effect at the elections on 6 May 2027. The borough keeps 22 wards but drops from 66 councillors to 65: 21 wards will elect three councillors and one, Hoylake and Meols, will elect two. (LGBCE, 30 September 2025)

Once ward boundaries move, polling districts have to move with them. That is the job this consultation is doing.

Bar chart of the number of electors proposed to move to a different polling place, by the Wirral ward they currently vote in, from 3,298 in Greasby, Frankby and Irby down to 17 in Pensby and Thingwall

The biggest single change is in Greasby

Greasby, Frankby and Irby has the largest number of affected electors, and the least certainty about where they end up. The council wants to carve a new polling district, PE, out of districts PA and PB because both are too large. That moves:

  • 1,208 electors who currently vote at Greasby Infant School
  • 2,090 who currently vote at Greasby Methodist Church Hall

The replacement venue has not been chosen. The council names St John’s Church Hall and Greasby Library as possibilities, and says Greasby Methodist Church Hall itself could become the polling place for the new district.

Two other big moves are already settled in outline. In Hoylake and Meols, 2,078 electors in polling district ND are moving into West Kirby and Thurstaston ward, where the proposed polling place is Westbourne Hall. In Bromborough and Port Sunlight, 2,241 electors in district HA move into Rock Ferry and New Ferry ward but keep the same building, New Ferry Village Hall, so they are not counted in the 15,900 figure above.

Two changes driven by complaints, not boundaries

Not every proposal comes from the boundary review.

In Wallasey, the council wants to stop using St Hilary’s Church as a polling place and switch polling district VF to Wallasey Village Library. The reason given is “several complaints from electors about the access and egress at St Hilary’s Church”. Parking is the stated reason for two more Wallasey moves: 414 electors leave Oldershaw Rugby Club, and 225 leave Wallasey URC Hall for St Nicholas Church because they are “almost passing” it anyway.

In Liscard and Egremont, the Grosvenor Ballroom is no longer available to hire, so a replacement has to be found during the review. Nothing else in that ward changes. The council notes that two districts there, WD and WE, are above the recommended electorate size, but says the existing buildings are big enough and “traditionally the turnout is historically low”.

Crowding is the other theme

Several proposals are about queues rather than geography. The council’s Bebington document cites the Electoral Commission’s recommended maximum of 2,250 electors per polling station, and Bebington’s district is running at 3,456.

Wards where the council proposes or is considering extra polling stations inside the same building:

  • Bebington: Brackenwood Infant School goes from one station to two
  • Clatterbridge: Stanton Road Primary and Holy Trinity Church each go from one to three, All Saints Church Hall from one to two
  • Hoylake and Meols: possible second stations at St Johns Church Centre (4,123 electors) and The Parade Hoylake Community Centre (3,400)
  • Seacombe: possible second station at St Joseph’s Parish Centre
  • Upton and Woodchurch: possible second station at Fender Primary School
  • West Kirby and Thurstaston: possible second station at St Bridgets Centre

None of those changes the building you walk into.

Every ward, and what is proposed

Ward Proposed change
Bebington No moves. Second polling station at Brackenwood Infant School, where the district has 3,456 electors
Bidston and St James No changes
Birkenhead and Tranmere 1,490 electors move venue across five changes, including 663 from Kings Church and 323 from Birkenhead Central Library to Christ Church Hall in Oxton
Bromborough and Port Sunlight 1,646 leave Hulme Hall, 584 move to Clatterbridge ward venues, 53 from Bromborough Evangelical Church to The Village Hotel. District HA needs a new venue; Bebington Sea Cadet Centre and Bebington Youth Centre are being explored
Clatterbridge Receives 584 electors, split between Stanton Road Primary (285) and Holy Trinity Church (299). Three venues gain stations
Claughton and Noctorum 942 move from Bidston Avenue Primary to Birkenhead Quaker Meeting House; 228 move to Oxton. St Andrews Church Centre reviewed because it sits outside its district; Wayfarer Cricket Club considered
Eastham No changes
Greasby, Frankby and Irby New district PE created; 3,298 electors move to a venue not yet chosen
Heswall 1,089 move from Heswall Royal British Legion to Barnston Primary School; district RC has 3,719 electors
Hoylake and Meols Becomes the borough’s only two-councillor ward; 2,078 electors move to Westbourne Hall in West Kirby and Thurstaston
Leasowe and Moreton East No changes
Liscard and Egremont Grosvenor Ballroom no longer available; replacement venue to be found
Moreton West and Saughall Massie 653 move from Moreton Baptist Church to Christ Church Parish Centre, 88 to St Mary’s Church Centre, and 544 shift between the two stations inside Moreton Baptist Church. The council says the area has very few alternatives
New Brighton 882 move from Earlston Library to St Peter and Paul Catholic Primary School
Oxton Receives 986 from Birkenhead and Tranmere and 228 from Claughton and Noctorum; 586 move from Oxton St Saviours to The McAllister Pavilion; districts DB (3,703 electors) and DD to be split
Pensby and Thingwall 17 electors move to Heswall Royal British Legion. No other changes
Prenton Receives 157 from Birkenhead and Tranmere and 255 from Rock Ferry and New Ferry, who move to the Dixie Suite at Tranmere Rovers. Alternative venue to be considered for district LC
Rock Ferry and New Ferry Gains district EE, 2,241 electors keeping New Ferry Village Hall. 142 and 189 move to Byrne Avenue Baths, 56 to The Barnabas Room at St Peters Church, 255 to Prenton, 75 to Birkenhead and Tranmere
Seacombe No changes. Possible second station at St Joseph’s Parish Centre
Upton and Woodchurch No changes. Possible second station at Fender Primary School and a possible boundary change around district MD
Wallasey St Hilary’s Church replaced by Wallasey Village Library; 414 move from Oldershaw Rugby Club, 354 to Wallasey URC Hall, 225 to St Nicholas Church
West Kirby and Thurstaston Gains new district QF, 2,078 electors, proposed venue Westbourne Hall; 588 move from St Bridgets Centre to Dawpool C of E Primary School

Five wards, Bidston and St James, Eastham, Leasowe and Moreton East, Seacombe, and Upton and Woodchurch, have no proposed changes to district boundaries, polling places or stations.

One quirk worth knowing

Clatterbridge will run two separate polling stations, coded KA3 and KB3, purely for electors moving in from Bromborough and Port Sunlight. Ward boundaries have changed, but parliamentary constituency boundaries have not, and those voters stay in the Ellesmere Port and Bromborough constituency for general elections. They need their own ballot boxes.

What it means for you

Check before you assume. The council has published a mapping tool and a PDF for each ward on the consultation page. The PDF lists your current polling district, your current station, and what is proposed. It takes a minute and it is the only place this detail exists.

If the proposed venue is wrong for you, say so now. The consultation asks three things: whether the proposed polling place is suitable, why not if it is not, and what you would suggest instead. Responses go through the survey on that page, or by email to electoral@wirral.gov.uk, or by post to Electoral Services, Town Hall, Brighton Street, Wallasey, CH44 8ED.

Accessibility comments carry weight here. The council says it particularly wants to hear from people and organisations with knowledge of accessibility and the needs of disabled voters. The St Hilary’s Church proposal exists because electors complained about getting in and out, which is the clearest evidence that this kind of objection lands.

The deadline is real. Comments close at 5pm on Friday 18 September 2026. A report with recommendations then goes to the council’s Regulatory and General Purposes Committee on 8 October 2026. After that, changing your polling place means waiting for the next review.

Nothing changes before May 2027. Any election held before then runs on the current arrangements.

What we could not confirm

The council has not published a borough-wide total for how many electors are affected, so the 15,900 figure is our own count from the 22 ward documents and comes to 15,932 exactly. It is a floor, not a ceiling: the number of electors in Wallasey’s polling district VF and the remainder of Bromborough’s district HA are not stated, and several venues are still described as under consideration rather than proposed.

Council decisions and applications across the peninsula are tracked on our Wirral planning news page.

Sources