Guidance for Candidates and Agents at local government elections in England

Your name and description (if you choose to use one) should be written on the nomination form before you ask subscribers to sign the form.

The nomination form must be completed in English.

The form must contain:

 Your full name1

• This means your surname and other names in full. 
• Using initials only could lead to your nomination paper being rejected. 
• Do not use prefixes such as Mr, Mrs, Dr or Cllr as part of your name. 
• The same applies to suffixes. However, if you have a title, you can use this as your full name. For example, if your actual name is Joseph Smith but your hereditary title is Joseph Avon, you can use the name Joseph Avon as your full name. 

Signatures of two registered electors2

• Also known as subscribers from the ward.
• Your subscribers must be on the local government electoral register, in the ward you are planning to contest, that is in force on 25 working days before the poll. For more information on see our guidance on subscribers.

Description

You can also choose to use a description on your nomination paper.  The type of description you can use depends on whether you are an independent or party candidate.

You do not have to use a description. If you choose not to use a description, you can leave the description field of the nomination form blank.