A councillor is standing for election who (I think) no longer lives in the parish.

Question

A councillor who was elected (uncontested) last election moved away from the area sometime after the election. They have never disclosed this at any parish meeting. They do not live at the address stated in their declaration of interest form that is published on the County Council website. They do not work in the parish, nor own the house they used to live at, according to the land registry. They are not on the electoral register.  It is of course possible they moved back to the parish to a different address.

Would County Council check this persons eligibility before accepting the nomination as valid? Or do they just check the validity of the proposer and seconder, taking the candidates word for it? I cant imagine  checks were done on the dozens of parish councillors standing for election in the 24 hours it took from nomination papers being submitted and being published.

How can one find out on what qualification they are eligible to be standing ?

Answer 1

You have stated the candidate no longer lives in the Parish, do they live within 3 miles of the Parish council border? (Not 3 miles from the village centre).

If you are concerned you can contact your county council electoral services department and ask them, they will be able to tell you which criteria they have declared:

They have lived in the Parish for 12 months

They have work within the Parish for 12 months

They have have an interest in a property (landlord or farmer etc) within the parish for 12 months

They have lived within 3 miles of the boundary of the parish for the previous 12 months.

Two things:

Firstly: You can mix and match categories, but the dates must be contiguous, e.g. live in the parish and then move house within 3 miles limit.

Secondly: being a parish Councillor can count as work within the Parish (there was some guidance about this), and so they can claim this basis for eligibility working in the parish.

Answer 2

The Principal Authority which might be the district Council rather then the County Council, should have already instigated checks cited by puss in boots vai their Electoral or legal services staff.  If not they are guilty of maladministration or the candidate has made a false declaration in his/her nomination papers.

Comments

Thanks Graeme. I spoke to the County Council today and they said they took it  at face value ie didnt check the truthfulness of it. I would have to make an appt to see the form in person they wouldnt give me any info over the phone.

Answer 3

My understanding was that it was the criteria on the day of the election that counted so in theory they could move out the area and still remain a Councillor I’ve seem Borough Councillors do this

But the Declaration of Interests must reflect the current situation. But having said that my experience is that Monitoring Officers and Members Panels set a very low bar on their accuracy

Comments

I understand it is fine to remain a councillor once elected if one moves out of the area after the election. My concern is them standing for election again now that they have moved several miles away.

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I didn’t realise they were standing for re-election in which case somebodyelse has given you the answer although I’ve never heard about being a Parish Councillor counting as employment
We had a case where the Police were involved as someone rented a garage in the village to qualify it all came to nothing