Guidance for Candidates and Agents at Police and Crime Commissioner elections

Qualifications

To be able to stand as a candidate at a Police and Crime Commissioner election in England (excluding areas in England where a combined [county] authority mayor take on the police and crime functions) and Wales, you must be:1

  • at least 18 years old on the day of your nomination
  •  
  • be a British citizen, an eligible Commonwealth citizen, a citizen of the Republic of Ireland, a qualifying EU citizen or an EU citizen with retained rights2
  • registered as a local government elector in a local council area that is within the police area in which you wish to stand, both at the time of your nomination and on polling day.
Meaning of an eligible commonwealth citizen

An eligible Commonwealth citizen is a Commonwealth citizen who either:

  • does not need leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom, or
  • has indefinite leave to remain in the United Kingdom
     
Meaning of qualifying EU citizens 

A qualifying EU citizen is a citizen of a country:

  •  that has a bilateral Voting and Candidacy Rights (VCR) treaty with the UK
  • is  resident in the UK 
  • with any form of leave to remain, or does not require such leave.  

Currently the UK holds bilateral treaties with the following countries: 

Denmark 
Luxembourg 
Poland 
Portugal 
Spain 
Meaning of EU citizens with retained rights 

An  EU citizen has  retained rights if:

  • they are a citizen of a country which does not have a bilateral Voting and Candidacy Rights (VCR) treaty with the UK
  • and they have been legally resident in the UK since before the UK left the EU on 31/12/2020 (the Implementation Period Completion Date – IPCD)


The member states of the European Union which do not currently have a bilateral VCR treaty with the UK and are not Commonwealth countries are: 

Austria Hungary 
BelgiumItaly 
BulgariaLatvia 
CroatiaLithuania 
Czech RepublicThe Netherlands 
Estonia Romania 
Finland   Slovakia 
France Slovenia 
Germany Sweden
Greece  


 

Last updated: 7 November 2024