Guidance for Returning Officers administering Local Government Elections in England

An election agent is the person responsible for the proper management of the candidate’s election campaign and, in particular, for its financial management. Every candidate must have an election agent. 

The notice of the appointment of an election agent must be delivered to you by the latest time for delivery of notices of withdrawal, which is 4pm on the nineteenth working day before the poll.1

We have produced a form for the notification of the appointment of election agents as part of the set of nomination papers.

You should communicate information on the election processes, the code of conduct and standard points of behaviour to the election agent at the earliest opportunity. In particular any information you provide should provide links to and highlight the new postal vote handling and the new undue influence and intimidation rules. 

Can a candidate be their own agent? 

A candidate may appoint themselves as their own election agent. 

If no agent is appointed by the deadline for withdrawals, the candidate automatically becomes their own election agent.2  

A candidate also becomes their own agent if:

• they revoke their agent’s appointment, or
• their agent dies, and a replacement is not appointed on the day of the death or on the following day3  

Election agent’s office address

The election agent must have an office address to which all claims, notices, legal notices and other documents may be sent.5 This must be a physical address – PO boxes or similar mailboxes cannot be used. 

The location of the office must be in one of the following locations:

• within the same local government area where the election is being held
• within the UK Parliamentary constituency or one of the constituencies included in the local government area 
• in a Welsh county borough which adjoins the local government area
• in a London borough or district which adjoins the local government area6  

The election agent’s office address is often the same as their home address. Alternatively it might be the local political party office or an office especially set up for the election.

Candidate acting as their own agent

If the candidate gives you written notification of their appointment as their own election agent, they must give an office address within the qualifying area as defined in the bullet points above.

Where a candidate acts as their own election agent as a result of not having appointed anybody else, the agent’s office address is deemed to be their home address as given on the home address form.7

Their home address as provided on the home address form will be published on the notice of election agents unless that address is outside the permitted area. This is the case even if the candidate has chosen to withhold their home address from the statement of persons nominated and ballot paper.

Where the candidate’s home address is outside of the permitted area the office address is deemed to be the address of the proposer.8