"Is your Electoral Services Unit fit for purpose and the challenges of the forthcoming General Election?"

The 5th Annual AEA National One-Day Seminar took place on Friday 4th September 2009 at the Newcastle Gateshead Hilton, overlooking the River Tyne, pictured above. Click here to view the official brochure. It was an extremely interesting and worthwhile event which seemed to be enjoyed by delegates who, this year, attended in higher numbers than ever before. The Chief Executive, John Turner, in his opening welcome, congratulated everyone on achieving this record.

Keynote speech: "Putting voters first – the General Election and beyond" - Jenny Watson, Chair of the Electoral Commission

You can read the full transcript of Jenny's speech here.

Presentations

You can view/download slides from the presentations at the Seminar by clicking on the items in the list below. Please be aware that there are some quite large files here which will take a few seconds to display. The slides provide a good summary of the content of the presentations but look out for detailed reports in the Autumn issue of ARENA.

What could go wrong? Warrington: a case study – Jan Souness, Head of Service for the Chief Executive’s Directorate, Warrington Borough Council

Project managing an election; Cornwall, a case study – Paul Hamill, Programme Manager, Cornwall Council

Key issues for a Parliamentary General Election – Andy Tiffin, Democratic Services Manager, Hart District Council and John Owen, AEA Training Manager

Lessons from Northern Ireland: a case study – Douglas Bain, Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland

Is your ESU fit for purpose? – John Turner, AEA Chief Executive

Supporting a well-run UK Parliamentary General Election – Karen Quaintmere, Head of Electoral Administration, Electoral Commission

Training support – John Owen, AEA Training Manager

Available support from the AEA – John Turner, AEA Chief Executive