The basic formal requirements to become an official candidate and run for a local councils are as follows.
To be eligible, you must be:
• A British or a citizen of the Commonwealth or European Union
• At least 18 years old
• Registered to vote in the area or have lived, worked or owned property there for at least 12 months before an election
Eligibility is often considered to be the only real factor preventing you from running as an independent candidate.
The political parties have their own selection processes and you can read more about those here.
Whether or not you are ready to take on the responsibility of being a councillor is a question that only you can really answer.
It is just as likely that a candidate of 18 years of age could be a brilliant community representative within a multi-seat Parish or Town Council Ward, whilst another aged 38 could be the poorest choice possible for a single-seat County Division.
If you are unsure about your choice, it might be useful to seek the unbiased opinion of others.
You might also think about the life skills and experience that you will bring to the role.
Being a good councillor is not just about being passionate about issues and public speaking alone. It is about being able to put yourself in the position of others, relate that experience within the bigger setting, and then communicate arguments and where possible, solutions too which will really make a difference to the people you will be representing.
Having experience from as many different areas of life, where you have interacted with as many different kinds of people as possible will help you greatly to do this.
Being able to have a conversation with someone experiencing a housing problem one minute and then walking into a meeting with the Council’s Chief Executive Officer to discuss something completely different the next is a real possibility.
You have to have both the confidence and flexibility to be who you need to be when you need to be it.
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