How do I become a district councillor?

Full elections are held in all wards every four years in May. You can be a candidate if you satisfy at least one of the following qualifications:

• you are aged 18 or over
• you are included in the electoral register for the Maldon District
• you have lived, worked or owned/rented a property in the area for at least the past 12 months.

You may be disqualified as a candidate if you work for the Council or hold a politically restricted post with another local authority.

Bankruptcy or a previous criminal conviction with a three-month or more prison sentence would also disqualify you as a candidate.

Most candidates are nominated through a political party. However, individuals are welcome to stand in their own right.  Such persons usually stand as an Independent.

Before you can be accepted as a candidate you must ask one person to agree to propose your nomination and another person to agree to second the nomination.  You must also find eight other "subscribers" to sign your nomination paper.

Each of the above people must be on the electoral register for the Ward concerned. 

How do I become a parish councillor?
The qualifications to become a parish councillor are much the same for a district councillor, except that the registration qualification relates to the parish concerned and the residential and employment qualifications must be within the parish or within 4.8 kilometres of it.

You would only need to find a proposer and a seconder to support your nomination, who must both be included in the electoral register for the parish or ward of the parish concerned.

Further Information
For more information, please email elections@maldon.gov.uk or telephone 01621 875746.