What you need to do to stand in the 2022 council elections

Nominations are now open for candidates seeking to run in this May's local elections. There are two sets of elections taking place. The first is to Bridgend County Borough Council (BCBC) local authority, while the second set of elections is to Bridgend's twenty town and community councils. Full guidance on standing in the local authority/county borough elections is available from the Electoral Commission . There's similar guidance for anyone seeking to stand in the town & community council elections . Click the "next" button or use the drop-down menu to move from section to section. Are you eligible to stand? Before anything else, you'll need to check that you can stand in the first place. The rules in Wales have changed slightly following the Local Government & Elections Act 2021. To run for the county borough elections, you will need to be: Aged 18 or over. A British, Commonwealth, EU or other qualifying foreign citizen (i.e. granted leave to remain). Registered as a local elector for the Bridgend local authority, or have permanently lived, worked or owned any property or land in the Bridgend local authority for at least 12 months before polling day. Some circumstances automatically disqualify you. This includes bankruptcy, serving a prison sentence of three months or more in the last five years, being convicted of election-related offences or being on the sex offenders register. Employees of a local authority – which includes teachers, for example - can now run in the local authority they're employed by but will have to resign before accepting their office (if elected). The exceptions to this rule are "politically sensitive roles" such as the Chief Executive and the most senior statutory council officers and their deputies. The advice is to check with the council's HR department to determine if you are eligible. The application process & withdrawals For the county borough council election, you'll need to fill in a nomination form – available here ( pdf ) - in either English or Welsh. You'll need to confirm all of the qualifying details. You'll also need to decide which ward you want to stand in. You don't need to live in a particular ward to stand there. You can also apply to stand in more than one ward but will need to withdraw from all but one by the close of nominations. If you want to stand for a registered political party, the nominating officer of the party will need to confirm your candidacy by signing a certificate of authorisation (included with the nomination form). Most of the political parties will likely have chosen their candidates by now, but they might not be running in every ward/with a full slate so some spots could still be available. It's best to check with party officials. Of course, you don't need to be a member of a political party or organised group to stand. If you want to stand as an Independent candidate you can do so by describing yourself as "Independent" and/or "Annibynnol". You can also choose whether or not to appoint someone as an election agent to manage and administer the campaign on your behalf. If you choose not to, you'll need to confirm that you're acting as your own election agent. The nomination form will need to be signed and addressed by a single witness - who can be pretty much anybody. You don't need to get a minimum number of signatures and you don't need to pay an election deposit. In another change, you can choose whether or not you want your home address published on official documents relating to the election. The nomination form (and certificate of authorisation if you're standing for a party) need to be delivered either by post or by hand to the Civic Offices in Bridgend or online as an email attachment (email: nominations@bridgend.gov.uk) by 4 pm on Tuesday 5th April 2022. If you want to withdraw from the election, you'll need to fill in a withdrawal notice and submitted to the Returning Officer by hand or online (same as the nomination paper) again by 4 pm on 5th April 2022. Election expenses & Access to Office Fund If you stand for the county borough election, you'll need to record and report any expenses you incurred during the campaign period. The campaign period is defined as being from the time your nomination is confirmed to the close of polling on 5th May 2022. The rules are covered in far more detail here ( pdf ), but the key things to be aware of are: You'll have a campaign spending limit based on the number of electors in your chosen ward. If you issue joint campaign material with other candidates, this spending limit will be different. Items that are given for free or at a discount to help your campaign have to be accounted for (there's more information in the guide linked above). You'll have to keep spending records and submit an expenses return after the election. Donations of £50 and over will have to be recorded and there are specific rules around crowdfunding. If you appoint an election agent it'll largely be their job to authorise candidate-related payments and keep most of the records needed to fill in an expenses return. If you don't have an agent, it'll be down to you as the candidate to do all this. If you want to run for the county borough or town/community councils and have a disability, you may be eligible for a grant through the Access to Office Fund. The amount of money you may receive will depend on your individual needs and this won't be counted as election expenses. For more information on the Access to Office Fund, visit Disability Wales . What about town & community councils? The eligibility and disqualification criteria for standing for town and community councils are the same as for the county borough with a few differences. You need to be registered as a local elector for the community you wish to stand in, or have permanently lived, worked or owned any property or land in the community council area for at least 12 months before polling day. Employees of a community council can stand for the council they're employed by but will need to resign before accepting office. For community councils with wards, you'll need to choose which one you want to stand in (as at county level). You're allowed to stand in both the county borough and town/community council election at the same time. You can also run in more than one town/community council if you're eligible to do so. If you intend to stand in both the county and town/community council elections then you'll need to fill in a separate nomination form for both. The town/community council nomination form is available here ( pdf ). As for county borough candidates, the nomination form has to be in by 4 pm on 5th April 2022. The rules on spending for town/community councils are more simplified than the county elections. There's a spending limit per candidate of £806 + 7p per elector in the town/community council area you're standing in. You'll still need to submit an expenses return after the election – more details here ( pdf ) – and invoices/receipts worth more than £10 need to be kept for this. How are councillors elected? The system is the same at both county borough and town/community council levels. If there's a single seat to fill, the system is first-past-the-post – whoever receives the most votes wins. If there's more than one seat to fill (some wards elect 2, 3 or more councillors), then the system used is multiple non-transferable vote (also known as bloc voting). Voters will have as many votes as there are seats to fill. So if, for example, there are three seats then the three candidates who receive the most votes are elected. What happens if there aren't enough candidates to fill the seats? This happens more often at town/community council level than county borough level, but it's not uncommon. If there's only one seat and one candidate, then that candidate is elected unopposed ("uncontested seat"). Similarly, if there's more than one seat and too few candidates to fill them, any remaining seats are usually left vacant. At the county level, this would likely trigger a by-election to fill the vacancy. Although town/community councils may decide to hold a by-election too, more often than not they may decide in favour of co-option. Co-option is where the council decides – after an application process – to appoint someone to the vacancy/vacancies instead of holding a by-election (which may be disproportionately expensive).

What you need to do to stand in the 2022 council elections

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What you need to do to stand in the 2022 council elections

Nominations are now open for candidates to stand for 2022 local authority and town/community council elections in Bridgend.

5. How are councillors elected?

5. How are councillors elected?

New homes and self-build plots proposed for Bettws

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Owen Donovan

Related Posts

Community councils go it alone for election review

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Copyright

Subscribe by Email

Search

Archive

Categories