Councillors

Getting Elected

How to become elected as a Councillor

If you are interested in becoming a District Councillor the following information may be useful.

For full details, download a guide about becoming a councillor (PDF file, 1MB - opens in new window)

Am I eligible to be elected?

To be eligible to become a councillor, you must:

• be over 18 years of age;
• be a British subject, or a citizen of the Irish Republic, a commonwealth country, a UK dependent territory or another country in the European Community;
• be an elector within the local authority area in which you would like to stand, or have either owned property, lived or worked in that area throughout the 12 months leading up to the date of nomination. (In the case of parish and town council elections, you may also be eligible if you have lived within 4.8 kms of that parish for the 12 months leading up to the date of nomination);

You cannot stand if you:

• are employed by that council;
• have been declared bankrupt within the last five years if you have not repaid your debts;
• have been convicted of a criminal offence and sentenced to not less than three months imprisonment within the last five years;
• you hold a politically restricted post for another authority;
• you have been disqualified under any legislation relating to corrupt or illegal practices.

You do not need any formal qualifications to become a councillor.

How do I go about getting elected?

You will need to complete and return a nomination paper. These will be available about 6 to 8 weeks before polling day. They are available from the Returning Officer at West Wiltshire District Council, and will also be sent to Parish clerks to hand out.

The nomination paper pack contains all the information you will need relating to key dates, the information you have to supply, and a summary of some of the main legislation relating to being a candidate. Many candidates choose to use a political description (although you do not have to), and if that is the case, the political party affected has to confirm that you may use their name, in which case you may also use their logo on the ballot paper.

Your nomination paper will also require you to obtain two people from within the area for which you are standing to act as your proposer and seconder. In the case of nominations for District council, another eight people from within the ward will need to support your candidature on the nomination form.

The way in which you then publicise your candidature, in order to obtain support, is largely a matter for yourself, although there are a number of rules relating to how much you can spend on this. There are also a number of quaintly described “Corrupt and Illegal Practices” which you must avoid, covering things like bribery, corruption and the use of undue influence. Again, the nomination pack will point out some of these pitfalls.

What do Councils do?

It is impossible to provide a full list of the powers and duties of parish, town and District Councils, and to the outsider it may appear confusing at first, especially as County Councils also have yet another range of functions. Examples might include the following:

Parish and Town Councils

Allotments, By-laws, Bus Shelters, Cemeteries, Footpaths, Sports and Leisure facilities, Parks,

District Councils

By-laws, Car Parks, Community Safety, Concessionary Travel, Conservation and listed buildings, Council Tax and Benefits, Housing, Leisure centres, Local planning, Public conveniences, Refuse collection, Street cleaning, Tourism

County Councils

Education, Highways, Libraries, Registration of Births Deaths and Marriages, Social Services, Trading Standards, Youth Clubs

However, many of these can be shared responsibilities, and will vary from one part of the country to another, particularly where “Unitary autorities” mean that many of the District and County functions are combined under one roof.

How much time is involved?

Let’s assume you have been elected. Before you can act as a councillor you must formally accept office and sign up to a national Code of Conduct which has been designed to ensure that anybody holding a public office acts impartially and without financial impropriety.

It is impossible to answer the question of how much time is involved, because all councils are different. For example, a parish council must hold at least an annual meeting and three other meetings per year. In a quiet rural area there might not be a need to hold many more meetings than this. In other areas, especially in the urban areas, the only way a busy council could get through all of its work is to break it down into committees, meeting probably every three or four weeks.

As well as the formal meetings, councillors may have a lot of contact with their electorate, either attending local meetings or surgeries, or listening to their complaints and making enquiries on their behalf. A good way to find out how things work at the council for which you are thinking of standing is to contact the clerk and ask a few questions.

How much will it cost?

There is a limit on how much you can legally spend on your election campaign, but these are costs which you (or maybe a party) will have to pay. Misleadingingly, these are known as election expenses, but please be advised that these are not re-imbursable, as the name might otherwise imply. You do not have to spend anything on your campaign, and at local level there is no deposit to pay – a deposit is only required at Parliamentary and European elections.

Once elected, then in theory it should not cost you a lot. There is usually cover for subsistence and travel allowances, but this is something for your council to determine and has to be within a maximum laid down by the government.