About the council

To stand for election/co-option on a parish council, you must:

• be a UK or Commonwealth citizen
• or be a citizen of another Member state of the European Union
•  and be at least 18 years old

and to be eligible to stand for an election for a particular parish, you must meet one of the 4 criteria:

1. You are, and will continue to be, registered as a local government elector for the parish/community in which you wish to stand from the day of your nomination onwards.
2. You have occupied as owner or tenant any land or other premises in the parish/community area during the whole of the 12 months before the day of your nomination and the day of election/co-option.
3. Your main or only place of work during the 12 months prior to the day of your nomination and the day of election has been in the parish/community area.
4. You have lived in the parish/community area or within three miles of it during the whole of the 12 months before the day of your nomination and the day of election.

 If you do become a parish councillor you will have to sign up to the Parish Council's Code of Conduct.

You must also not be disqualified from standing, including but not limited to the following disqualification reasons:

• You are employed by the parish/community council or hold a paid office under the parish/community council (including joint boards or committees).
• You are the subject of a bankruptcy restrictions order or interim order.
• You 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 polling day.

Minting and Gautby Parish Council usually meets 4-6 times a year for the council meeting, to which members of the public are also invited. Meetings may last two or three hours, depending on what’s on the list of items to discuss. The Council also has working parties to look at details of policy and to make recommendations to the Council.

Once elected, parish councillors sit on the council for a maximum of four years. If they then want to stay in the post they can stand for re-election. The next election is in May 2019.

It doesn’t mean that you have to stay for four years, if you find it’s not for you or you can no longer meet the commitment you can stand down.

The best way to find out what it’s like to be a parish councillor is to talk to someone who’s doing it now. Go along to a parish council meeting, speak to one or all of the councillors and find out what they think of the job or call Eric Clark, Chairman, for more information.

For full information download http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/141798/Part-1-Can-you-stand-for-election-P-and-C.pdf