Deadline approaches for candidates for District Council and Town Council elections

Burnham-On-Sea and Highbridge residents hoping to become new councillors in May’s local elections have just a few days to go until the deadline for putting their names forward.

Sedgemoor District Council has published its formal Notice of Election for the forthcoming elections for District, Town and Parish councils to be held on Thursday, May 2nd 2019.

Those who would like to be nominated as a candidate must return their completed nomination papers by 4pm on Wednesday 3rd April, 2019.  The paperwork should be hand-delivered to Returning Officer, Sedgemoor District Council, Bridgwater House, King Squares, Bridgwater, Somerset, TA6 3AR.

Full details can be found online here. Those interested in becoming a councillor can download information and the relevant nomination forms. They do not have to be a member of or represent a political party to stand for council.

To stand as a candidate at a local election, the candidate must be 18 years old and must be a British, Commonwealth, Irish or other European Union member state citizen. They must also meet one or more of the following conditions:

1. You are, and will continue to be, registered as a local government elector for the area in which you wish to stand from the day of your nomination onwards.
2. You have occupied as owner or tenant any land or other premises in the area during the whole of the 12 months before the day of your nomination and the day of election.
3. Your main or only place of work during the 12 months prior to the day of your nomination and the day of election has been in the area.
4. You have lived in the area during the whole of the 12 months before the day of your nomination and the day of election. (for parish/town/city elections, you must live within 4.8k of the area)

There are also some reasons to disqualify certain people from standing as a candidate. The person cannot be a candidate if they:

• are subject to bankruptcy restrictions, or an interim order
• have been convicted and sentenced to a prison term of three months or more, including suspended sentences, without the option of a fine, at any time in the five years before polling day
• have been disqualified as a result of an election offence, or a corrupt or illegal practice, by an election court
• are employed in a ‘politically restricted post’ by any local authority, unless you can get an exemption from an independent adjudicator appointed by the Secretary of State.

Full details can be found online here.