Governments and councils
Easy Read by Innovate Trust
We all need to make our voices heard.
This is good for our wellbeing.
Making our voices heard also helps our communities.
Different ideas help make things better for everyone.
Here is more information about voting and taking part in the way our communities work.
There are links to videos and more Easy Read pages.
We live in a democracy.
This means that our votes help to decide how our country is run.
We vote in different types of elections to decide how our countries and local areas are run.
In a General Election we vote for Members of Parliament (MPs) to represent the way we want the UK to be run.
The winner in each area (constituency) joins other MPs in the House of Commons in London.
They decide how to spend money and make new laws to run the UK.
In elections for smaller parts of the UK people also vote for people to run the country that they live in.
In Scotland people vote for Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) in Edinburgh.
In Northern Ireland people vote for members of the Northern Irish Assembly in Belfast.
In Wales people vote for Members of the Senedd (MS) in Cardiff.
These members decide how to spend money and make laws only for their own country.
In council elections people vote to choose people to represent them in their local communities.
This might be for county, city or town council.
Councils choose how to spend money in your local area on schools, parks, roads, libraries and social care.
An easy read guide to the Scottish Parliament is available by calling
