Guidance for Police Area Returning Officers administering a Police and Crime Commissioner election in England and Wales

You are required to publish a statement of persons nominated for the police area by no later than 4pm on the eighteenth working day before the poll.1

Contents of the statement of persons nominated

The statement of persons nominated must include, for all candidates who are validly nominated:

• their name
• their address (or, if they have requested not to have their home address made public, the words Address in the [insert name of police area] Police Area
• their description (if any)

It must also include those who no longer stand nominated and the reason why (i.e. those who have withdrawn or whose nomination you have rejected).2

Your privacy notice should make clear that you are required under electoral legislation to publish a candidate’s name and address information in the statement of persons nominated. You can find more information in our data protection guidance.

Ordering of names on the statement of persons nominated

The names of the candidates on the statement must be listed in alphabetical order of their surname; this is also how they will appear on the ballot paper.3

Where there are two or more candidates with the same surname, the alphabetical order of the other names will decide which candidate is listed first.

If a person has requested the use of a commonly used name on their nomination form, the commonly used name must be shown on the statement instead of the actual name.

Where a candidate has requested the use of a commonly used surname, the candidate’s alphabetical position on the statement of persons nominated (and on the ballot paper) must be made by reference to their commonly used surname.4

If, however, you have rejected the use of any commonly used name as you think it is likely to mislead or confuse electors, or is obscene or offensive, the actual name must be published on the statement of persons nominated instead of the commonly used name.5

Considerations where a candidate has asked for their home address not to be published

If than one validly nominated candidate has asked for their home address not to be published, you must consider if two or more of them have the same or so similar a name that they are likely to cause confusion. 

If you consider that this is the case, you may add such details from their home address or nomination form to the statement of persons nominated as you consider appropriate to reduce the likelihood of confusion.6  

You must consult the candidate(s) affected, if it is practicable to do so, before you make a decision on which details should be included on the statement of persons nominated. 

You must then give notice in writing to the affected candidate(s) informing them of the additional information that will be published.7

Publication

You must provide each LRO with a copy of the statement as soon as it is published for local publication.8

You must also send a copy of the statement to the Electoral Commission. We will confirm through a Bulletin where the statement is to be sent.9

You should have robust proof checking processes in place to ensure that there are no errors on the statement of persons nominated. You can find more information about proof checking in our quality assurance guidance.