Election nominations not made public to parish

Question

For the first time in years our parish is holding an election. There are 3 vacancies and 4 nominees. Three out of the 4 nominees already serve on Council. One nominee is known to 'have a seat for life''. I am the newbie 4th nominee & only female. The female parish clerk has not put anything relating to the upcoming elections ( ward & parish) on the noticeboard. Is this illegal? The minutes of the last parish Council meeting held in February are on the noticeboard. Clerk has submitted her resignation to leave after the elections on May 2nd. The noticeboard currently used is owned by the church. The parish Council website is poorly designed but clerk has put election information on but with a very brief narrative. As a nominee I feel I have been treated unfairly. The clerk has asked for her vacancy to be advertised in the May edition of the church parish magazine which is distributed to every parishioners home. Clerk also has parishioners email addresses which she uses. It is problematic as so many different ways of communicating are used; no consistency. One time it is email only, the next noticeboard, sometimes magazine. Any advice appreciated as to how I can address this whole election situation?. Helen

Answer 1

The election should be shown on the noticeboard and website (if the Parish have either).

It is not a requirement to list any detail more than is shown in the "Statement of persons nominated" and providing more information would probably be regarded as bias.

It, however, your responsibility to ensure electors know about you, what you stand for etc.

The Clerk issues clearly cloud this issue, but are separate, you could email her and ask her to update the website to reflect that there is an election and the details of the candidates.

Comments

Thank you. There is absolutely nothing about elections on the noticeboard. Therefore I take it that because it is on the pc website the council is 'in the clear'?

---

They are, but there is no harm in emailing the Clerk to enquire. - It could have been an oversight.

Answer 2

The principal authority ( District or Borough Council organise the elections and should have published the statement of persons nominated on their website.  You could print it and ask for it to be put it on the noticeboard.  You could also look into printing your own election leaflets and canvass on residents doors.. Sadly many Clerk's do not do a consistent job and are not held to account by their councillors.  I also advise reading this  https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/i-am-a/candidate-or-agent/parish-and-community-council-elections-in-england-and-wales

Answer 3

Irrespective of whether the clerk has managed the website / notice board correctly, I really think that you should have put together a campaign leaflet and delivered it to every house in the area yourself. Ideally this should have been done before the postal voting ballot papers arrived on electors doorstep. (One of the basic mistakes I made when standing for election many years ago. Fortunately my partner and a few friends did a lot of the leg work for me).