Guidance for Candidates at Parish council elections in England

Political parties authorise candidates to stand for them by issuing a certificate of authorisation. This must state that the candidate may use one of the following:1

• the exact party name as registered with the Commission
• one of the party’s registered descriptions
• your choice of either the registered party name or one of the registered descriptions.

Particular care should be taken by the Nominating Officer (or someone authorised to act on their behalf) when completing the certificate of authorisation. If the certificate explicitly authorises a particular party name/description and this does not match the name/description on the nomination paper, the whole nomination will be invalid.2

The certificate of authorisation must be signed by the registered Nominating Officer of the political party or by someone authorised by the Nominating Officer to act on their behalf3 and must be received to the RO by the nominations deadline, 4pm 19 working days before the poll.4

If you are standing on behalf of two or more parties, you will need a certificate of authorisation from the Nominating Officer of each of the registered parties (or people authorised to act on their behalf).5 Joint descriptions are listed on the Commission’s register of political parties on the registration page for the relevant parties.