Stand for election

You can either stand as a representative of a political party (with the authorisation of the party) or as an independent candidate.

You can find out more about how local democracy works.

Parliamentary elections take place every five years. You can find out more about what MPs do.

To stand for election as a parliamentary candidate, you must be 18 or over on the day of nomination and either a:

British citizen
citizen of the Republic of Ireland
citizen of a Commonwealth country who has permission to stay long-term in the UK

There is no legal requirement for you to be a registered elector in the UK.

You are not allowed to stand if you are:

Elections for district and county councils take place every four years. you can find out more about what councillors do.

To stand for district council elections you must be 18 years old on the day of nomination and either a:

British citizen
citizen of the Republic of Ireland
citizen of a Commonwealth country who has permission to stay long-term in the UK
citizen of a country in the European Union

You must also have either:

lived in the area for at least 12 months before your nomination
registered as a local government elector within the Chelmsford borough area
rented or owned land that you have occupied in the Chelmsford area for 12 months before your nomination
had your main employment within the Chelmsford area for 12 months before your nomination

You must also have the support of at least 10 electors for the ward in which you are going to stand.

Elections for parish councils take place every four years, but they are not always contested. You can find out more about what parish councils do.

To stand for parish council elections you must be 18 years old on the day of nomination and either a:

British citizen
citizen of the Republic of Ireland
citizen of a Commonwealth country who has permission to stay long-term in the UK
citizen of a country in the European Union

You must also have either:

registered as a local government elector within the parish or parish ward area
rented or owned land that you have occupied in the parish or parish ward for 12 months before your nomination
had your main employment within the parish or parish ward area for 12 months before your nomination
lived in the parish or within three miles of it for the 12 months before your nomination

You must also have the support of at least two electors for the parish or parish ward in which you are going to stand.

You are not allowed to stand as a candidate for any council elections if you:

are an employee of the council for which you are standing
are an employee of any local authority in a politically restricted post
are the subject of a bankruptcy restrictions order or interim order
have been convicted and received a prison sentence of three or more months within five years of election day
are disqualified under any legislation relating to corrupt or illegal practices in elections