Guidance for Candidates at Parish council elections in England

How much can you spend?

The spending limit for the regulated period is £960, plus 8p per local government elector in the parish council area registered to vote on the last day for publication of the notice of election in the parish council area which you are standing for.1

Your local electoral registration officer will be able to give you the number of registered electors in the parish council area in which you are standing.

Example a

Example A

If there are 7,500 electors in a parish council area, the spending limit is:

£960 + (7,500 x 0.08) = £1,560

Joint candidates

Spending limits for ‘joint candidates’

You are a joint candidate if you stand in the same parish council area and one of the following conditions applies:

  • you have the same election agent 
  • you use the same campaign rooms
  • you publish joint material2

However, using the same campaign rooms by accident or coincidence is not in itself enough to make candidates joint candidates.3

Joint candidates have lower spending limits, as they are sharing some of the costs. You should calculate your spending limit as explained above, and then reduce it by:

Number of joint candidatesReduction of spending limit4
TwoBy 25% - a quarter
Three or moreBy 33% - a third

If you are not sure if you are a joint candidate, please contact us.

Example B

Example B

Two candidates standing in the same parish council area decide to issue joint campaign material. This makes them joint candidates. There are 7,500 electors in the parish council area in which they are standing.

To calculate each joint candidate’s spending limit, first calculate the spending limit for a single candidate:

£960 + (7,500 x 0.08) = £1,560

Then calculate 25% of this amount:

£1,560 × (25 ÷ 100) = £390

Take this amount off the spending limit for a single candidate:

£1,560 - £390 = £1170

This is the spending limit for each of the two joint candidates.

Last updated: 18 April 2024