Is it legal to interview residents who have completed the Parish Council application form and handed it in?

Question

I have been told by the Standards Committee Chairman that this should not be done? He says that this is not necessary. What is the correct procedure please?

Answer 1

I'm assuming you're referring to nomination papers, completed by candidates and submitted to the Returning Officer. It is the responsibility of the Returning Officer to determine whether candidates are qualified to stand for election. Provided they are so qualified, the decision (if there are more candidates than vacant places for election) is entirely down to the electorate. If there are no more qualified candidates than vacant places, then all those candidates are automatically elected without a poll. Nobody else has any formal role in the selection. Anyone, including the parish council, can invite candidates to speak on a public platform to put forward their merits, but candidates are not obliged to attend such a hustings. It would indeed be inappropriate to have the parish council "interview" candidates.

Comments

At the last election our District wanted nomination papers to be handed in personally, where they were then vetted by staff for correctness in the nomination form. The only formal question I was asked was did I intent to stand for election. No other interviewing took place. (In fact our clerk took down the majority of Cllrs papers as she had to go to a District meeting anyway).

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That's a good point, and it can save everyone time and trouble for the district council's election officers to check nomination papers. I've always taken advantage of their offer. But they can't require it, so a candidate who was so inclined could simply hand in the completed papers without any discussion.