Becoming a county councillor
Local elections will take place on Thursday 1 May 2025 for all 66 Nottinghamshire County Council seats, but what does it mean to be a county councillor?
County councillors speak up for the people who live in their division, and provide a vital link between their community and the council. As well as being an advocate for local residents and signposting them to the right support and advice, they keep people informed about the council issues that affect them.
Nottinghamshire also has seven district/borough councils which carry out separate duties alongside county council services, and have their own elected councillors.
The role of a county councillor
Nottinghamshire is divided into 56 areas or roughly equal population called ‘divisions’, with one or two county councillors representing each. Details of boundaries down to polling district level are available from the relevant district/borough councils.
Councillors represent everyone in their division, whether they voted for them or not. Many councillors also take roles on the council’s committees where they help scrutinise the work of Nottinghamshire County Council and other agencies.
Councillors make decisions and help set the policy and vision for Nottinghamshire. These decisions are implemented by permanent council staff, council officers, who deliver services on a day-to-day basis.
Our councillors will often take queries from people in their area and raise them with council staff on their behalf. This could be about fixing a footpath, help to get support for an elderly resident, finding out more about services for families, or raising a query with Trading Standards.
Who can be a county councillor?
To be a candidate for a local council you must:
- be 18 years of age or over and be a British citizen, an eligible Commonwealth citizen, a qualifying EU citizen or an EU citizen with retained rights
- meet at least one of the following four qualifications on the day you are nominated and on polling day:
- be registered as a local government elector for the local authority area in which you wish to stand, or
- have occupied as owner or tenant any land or premises in the local authority area during the whole of the 12 months before the day they are nominated, or
- your main or only place of work (including unpaid) during the last 12 months has been in the local authority area, or
- you have lived in the local authority area during the whole of the last 12 months.
In short, to stand in the County Council election you must have lived, worked, owned land or property in Nottinghamshire (excluding Nottingham City), and/or been registered to vote.
Am I disqualified from standing?
You cannot be a candidate if at the time of your nomination or election you:
- are employed by Nottinghamshire County Council or hold a paid office under the Council
- hold a politically restricted post
- are the subject of a bankruptcy restrictions order or interim order
- have been sentenced to a term of imprisonment of three months or more (including a suspended sentence), without the option of a fine, during the five years before election day (ie since 1 May 2020)
- are serving a disqualification due to being found guilty of a corrupt or illegal practice by an election court
- are subject to the notification requirement of or under Part 2 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003.
Allowances
All County Councillors can claim the basic allowance which is currently £16,925 per annum. Special Responsibility Allowances are also paid for a variety of designated roles, and the levels of these currently range from £4,763 to £39,689. Both types of allowances are automatically uprated in line with the national pay award paid to the Council’s officers. Councillors can also claim for their travel expenses in relation to their Council duties.
Induction and resources
On taking up office, County Councillors are offered the relevant ICT equipment (a ‘ThinkPad’ laptop device and/or a smartphone). They are also provided with phased induction training and opportunities to access further development on an ongoing basis).
Can I be a councillor alongside my job?
Many people work alongside their council duties. By law, your employer must allow you to take a reasonable amount of time off work to perform your duties as a councillor, but they do not have to pay you for any missed time.
Our formal council and committee meetings take place on weekdays during normal office hours, so you should consider the effect attending these might have on your work. There may also be other meetings, training or events taking place during normal working hours too that you will need to attend, as well as case work, parish council meetings and surgeries outside of these hours.
Standing in this upcoming election
On Thursday 1 May 2025, Nottinghamshire residents will have the chance to elect their county councillors. This is done every four years.
If you are interested in becoming an independent candidate (not in a political party), you can get resources and advice from the Local Government Association’s Independent Office.
To stand for a political party, you’ll need to be a member of the party, get involved locally and go through their selection process to be put forward as their candidate for election. You can find out more on each party’s website.
The results of the election held on 1 May become effective on Tuesday 6 May 2025, when the terms of office of existing councillors not re-elected will cease.
Getting nominated
The notices of election will be published on Tuesday 25 March. From the date the notice is published you will have until 4pm on Wednesday 2 April to submit a set of nomination forms. Forms are available from the elections team in your area.
Nomination papers must include your full name and address and be signed by the required number of registered electors from the Division in which you wish to stand. Those nominating you must be on the electoral register on 1 March 2025. It is recommended that you submit the nomination forms earlier and ask the elections team to check that they are valid.
If you change your mind you can withdraw your nomination by writing to the Deputy Returning Officer before 4pm on Wednesday 2 April 2025. To withdraw your nomination you must submit a withdrawal notice, witnessed by one other person who must also sign the notice. A notice of withdrawal form is available from the elections team in your area.
The campaign
If you are nominated the following information will be useful:
- Candidates are entitled to a copy of the electoral register for the division for which they are standing for use for electoral purposes. Candidates should be aware that there are penalties for misusing this information.
- Candidates are entitled to the use of rooms for meetings in public buildings, each District and Borough Council keeps a list of buildings available for use in their area.
- In local elections there is no provision for free postage for an election address so you have to make arrangements for delivery or postage of any communications with the electorate and you are required to meet the costs.
- You may use canvassers to try and persuade electors to vote for you but you cannot pay canvassers.
- Any campaign publicity issued on your behalf must comply with specific requirements under election law as well as with the general civic and criminal law.
Getting help
The election agent is legally responsible for the proper management of a candidate’s campaign. Candidates may act as their own agent but need to notify the Deputy Returning Officer of who they have appointed as their agent by 4pm on Wednesday 2 April 2025. The candidate can revoke the appointment of an agent and appoint a new agent but the agent cannot resign having signed the acceptance.
Election expenses
There are restrictions on what candidates can spend during the County Council election campaign. You must produce a statement of expenses after the election to show that you have not exceeded these limits.
For this election, the limit is £960 per candidate plus 8p per local government elector registered to vote in the relevant division on 25 March 2025. For joint candidates fighting the division together and sharing election facilities the total is reduced. The reduction is 25% if there are two joint candidates.
Election expenses can include:
- advertising
- unsolicited material addressed to electors (eg leaflets)
- transport
- public meetings
- services of an election agent or other staff
- accommodation and administrative costs
- costs of designing and operating a website for the campaign.
You would have to meet the costs of your election campaign. You may receive donations in cash or kind from supporters to help cover these costs.
Candidates may only accept donations of more than £50 from certain 'permissible donors'. These include:
- an individual registered on a UK electoral register
- a Great Britain-registered political party
- a UK-registered company
- a UK-registered trade union
- a UK-registered building society
- a UK-registered friendly society
- a UK-registered limited liability partnership
- a UK-based unincorporated association.
Candidates, or their agent, must satisfy themselves that any donation over £50 is from a permissible donor and must record all donations over £50 on their expenses return.
Your expenses return must be submitted within 35 days of the result being declared, the last day being Friday 6 June 2025.
Polling day
Polling day is Thursday 1 May 2025. Polling stations will be open from 7am to 10pm.
After the polling stations are closed, the ballot boxes will be sealed and kept securely. Local arrangements are being made for the verification and you should contact your local Deputy Returning Officer for information on their arrangements.
The count for the County Council elections will take place on Friday 2 May beginning at 11am (except for Rushcliffe Borough Council, who take a slightly different approach by verifying that day at 9am, with the count commencing thereafter).
Each Deputy Returning Officer will undertake the count in their district and will declare the result. These results will also be relayed via the overarching County Council results service at County Hall.
Returning Officers
Adrian Smith, the County Council’s Chief Executive, is the County Returning Officer and has overall responsibility for the County Council election. However, he has appointed chief officers and other officers in each district and borough council as his Deputy and Assistant Returning Officers (with full or specific powers as appropriate). The Deputy Returning Officers will run the election for the electoral divisions in their area. If you need advice you should contact the elections team at the relevant district/borough council in the area in which you plan to stand.
Before undertaking the role of councillor, you will need to sign the declaration of acceptance of office. Arrangements are in place for this to happen in the week commencing Tuesday 6 May 2025 at County Hall. Specific details for each division are available in Becoming a County Councillor 2025 [PDF].
