Who does what at a UK Parliamentary general election and how to contact them
The Returning Officer and Acting Returning Officer
At a UK Parliamentary election in England and Wales, the Returning Officer is a largely ceremonial position.
The administration of the election is the responsibility of the Acting Returning Officer, who is normally a senior officer of the local authority.
The Returning Officer only receives and returns the writ and declares the result at the end of the count – although they may choose to delegate these to the Acting Returning Officer.
In Scotland, the Returning Officer for a UK Parliamentary election is the same person as the Returning Officer for local government elections, and they are responsible for all aspects of the administration of the election, including the receipt and return of the writ and the declaration of the result. The term Acting Returning Officer is not used in Scotland.
Throughout this guidance, (Acting) Returning Officer is used to refer to the Acting Returning Officer in England and Wales and the Returning Officer in Scotland.
You will be able to contact the (Acting) Returning Officer for your constituency by contacting your local elections office. Addresses and telephone numbers of all elections offices in England and Wales can be found on our website. In Scotland, you can contact the Returning Officer through the elections office at your local council.
The (Acting) Returning Officer will offer briefings ahead of an election and we strongly encourage you or your agent to attend, even if you have been an agent or stood for election before.
The Electoral Registration Officer
The Electoral Registration Officer is responsible for maintaining the register of electors and absent voters’ lists for their local authority area. The Electoral Registration Officer is normally a senior officer in the local authority and may also be the (Acting) Returning Officer. You can find the contact details for your Electoral Registration Officer on our website.
The Electoral Commission
We are an independent statutory body established in November 2000 by the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000. We are currently headed by ten Commissioners, including a Chair. We report directly to the UK Parliament through a committee chaired by the Speaker of the House of Commons.
We are responsible for registering political parties and non-party campaigners, the monitoring and publication of significant donations to registered political parties and the regulation of party and non-party campaigner spending at certain elections. We also have a role in promoting voter awareness. We are required to report on the administration of certain electoral events, to keep electoral matters under review and, if requested, must review and report on any electoral matter. We also accredit observers to be present at election proceedings.
We do not run elections but have responsibility for providing advice and assistance on electoral matters to all those involved in elections, including (Acting) Returning Officers, Electoral Registration Officers, political parties and candidates.
We are here to help, so please get in touch if you have any questions.