Guidance for (Acting) Returning Officers administering a UK Parliamentary election in Great Britain

Home address form

Candidates are required to complete a home address form. It must be delivered by hand by the persons who can deliver the nomination form and by the close of nominations. The form is not prescribed but the information that needs to be provided is set out in law.1   

The candidate must state their name and home address on the home address form. The address does not need to be in the constituency in which the candidate intends to stand.

The home address:

  • must be completed in full
  • must not contain abbreviations
  • must be their current home address 
  • must not be a business address (unless the candidate runs a business from their home)

If any detail of the home address is wrong or omitted, the nomination is not automatically invalid if the description of the place is such as to be commonly understood.

The Commission has produced a home address form as part of its set of nomination papers that you can use to provide to candidates and agents. 


The home address form, along with the nomination form, is available for inspection by those people entitled to attend at the delivery of nomination papers. 

Candidates who don’t want their home address published

A candidate may choose for their home address not to be published on the statement of persons nominated or the ballot paper. 

In this case the home address form will contain, as well as the full name and home address:2  

  • a statement, signed by the candidate, which states that they require their home address not to be made public 
  • if their home address is in the UK, the UK Parliamentary constituency or the relevant area in which their home address is situated
  • if they live outside the UK, the country in which their home address is situated

If the candidate chooses not to have their home address appear on the statement of persons nominated and the ballot paper, the constituency in which the candidate’s home address is situated or, if they live outside the UK, the country in which they live must be printed instead.

If by the close of nominations more than one validly nominated candidate has asked for their home address not to be published, you must consider if two or more of them have the same or so similar a name that they are likely to cause confusion. If you consider that this is the case, you may add such details from their home address or nomination form as you consider appropriate to reduce the likelihood of confusion.3
   
Before you make a decision on which details should be included, you must consult the candidate(s) affected, if it is practicable to do so. You must then give notice in writing to the affected candidate(s) informing them of the additional information that will be published.

The meaning of relevant area is

For home addresses in England:

  • if the address is within a district for which there is a district council, that district;
  • if the address is within a county in which there are no districts with councils, that county;
  • if the address is within a London borough, that London borough;
  • if the address is within the City of London (including the Inner and Middle Temples), the City of London;
  • if the address is within the Isles of Scilly, the Isles of Scilly.  

For home addresses in Wales:

  • if the address is within a county, that county;
  • if the address is within a county borough, that county borough. 

For home addresses in Scotland:

  • the local government area in which the address is situated.

For home addresses in Northern Ireland:

  • the local government district in which the address is situated.
Last updated: 31 May 2024