Guidance for the GLRO administering the GLA elections

Deposit to stand for election

In order to be validly nominated as a Mayor of London candidate, a candidate or someone acting on the candidate’s behalf must deposit the sum of £10,000 with you. 

Party lists and individual London-wide Assembly Member candidates must, in order to be validly nominated, deposit the sum of £5,000 with you. 1  

If the deposit is given to you by someone acting on behalf of the mayoral or individual London-wide Assembly Member candidate, the person delivering the deposit must give you their name and address, unless they have already provided this information as part of their notification of appointment as an election agent.2

Payment must be made by the close of nominations and you must accept deposits made using:

  • UK banker’s draft3

You can also choose to accept funds by means of:

  • a building society cheque
  • a debit or credit card
  • electronic transfer of funds 
  • legal tender (cash in British pounds only), payments made by cash will be subject to money laundering checks

You should accept building society cheques if they carry out business in the United Kingdom. You should also accept banker’s payments which are orders issued by a bank, guaranteeing payment to the recipient. If you decide to accept any of these methods you should list them on the notice of election and make any requirements you have clear in the nomination pack.  

If the deposit is given to you by someone acting on behalf of the candidate, the person delivering the deposit must give you their name and address, unless they have already provided this information as part of their notification of appointment as an election agent.5

Where a candidate at a London Mayoral election or an individual candidate or registered party at a London Assembly election is not shown as standing nominated in the statement of persons nominated, the deposit must be returned as soon as practicable after the publication of the statement of persons nominated to the person who made the deposit or their personal representative. 6  

If there is a fee attached to the form of payment, you can pass this on to the candidate. If so, you should make this clear on the notice of election and the nomination pack. 

Last updated: 10 November 2023