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Anyone wishing to stand as a candidate at a local election
must complete a nomination paper. A guide to completing the
nomination paper is provided below.
Name
The nomination paper must include the candidate's full name,
with the surname first. Do not use any title or prefix such as Mr,
Mrs, Dr. The format should be: Miller, Andrew John. If the
candidate is normally known by another name, it can be included as
follows: Miller, Andrew John (commonly known as Andy).
Description
Only candidates representing a registered political party can
use the name of the party in their description unless they use the
word 'Independent'. All candidates have the option of not using a
description at all and leaving that part of the nomination paper,
and as a result the ballot paper, blank.
If a Candidate wishes to have a ballot paper description that
associates them with a registered political party they must also
submit a certificate of authorisation from that party's nominating
officer (or a person appointed by him to act on their behalf)
giving permission to use that description when submitting their
nomination paper.
A registered political party is a party, which appears in The
Electoral Commission's Great Britain register of political
parties.
Read more information about
standing for a political party.
The candidate must make sure that the description used in the
nomination paper exactly matches the description on the certificate
of authorisation. If the descriptions do not match, the nomination
paper will be invalid.
The proposed description must not exceed six words in length,
and the Returning Officer will hold the entire nomination paper
invalid if it does. The Returning Officer may reject nomination
papers if they decide that any description, even if it has been
authorised by a registered political party, is likely to lead
voters to associate the candidate with another registered political
party, or if it is otherwise invalid.
Address
The candidate's home address must be completed in full and
should not contain any abbreviations. The address must be the
candidate's current home address and not a business address. The
address does not need to be in the area where the election is
taking place as long as the candidate meets one of the
qualifications for standing for election.
Signatures of subscribers
The nomination paper needs to be signed (subscribed) by 10
registered electors from the ward in which the candidate is
standing. The first two will sign as proposer and seconder, and the
remaining eight registered electors as assenters.
The candidate must ensure that the names of the people signing
their nomination paper appear in the relevant electoral register
for the area in which the election is taking
place. |