Guidance for Returning Officers administering a Greater London Authority (GLA) election

The following guidance has been produced to support Constituency Returning Officers (CROs), in each constituency, in planning for and delivering a Greater London Authority (GLA) election. London Assembly constituencies are made up of two to four London boroughs.

Typically, the Returning Officer of the largest borough (usually the one with the most registered electors) is the Constituency Returning Officer (CRO). The CRO is designated by an Order made by the Secretary of State.1

The guidance has been produced by London Elects and the Electoral Commission. It reflects what the Commission and London Elects believe that Returning Officers should expect of their staff in preparing and delivering the GLA elections. 

Performance Standards

In addition to our role in providing advice and guidance, we set standards and monitor the performance of ROs through our performance standards framework.

Our guidance to support the delivery of your functions includes what we expect ROs will need to have in place and what we would expect to see for the key outcomes of the standards to be delivered. You should be mindful of this framework in the planning and delivery of the election.

For more information on the framework see our performance standards guidance for ROs.  

How to use this guidance

This guidance is directed towards CROs and the duties they carry out. The CRO is responsible for administering the election of Constituency Members to the London Assembly; and, working with the Greater London Returning Officer (GLRO), the elements of the Mayor of London and London-wide Member elections that fall within their constituency area, including the conduct of the poll and the counting of votes. Throughout this guidance we generally use ‘you’ to refer to the CRO. Where we refer to the GLRO, this will be explicitly stated.

The Greater London Returning Officer (GLRO) liaises with and coordinates the work of CROs and has the power to give directions relating to the discharge of their functions at the election. You should therefore read this guidance in conjunction with any additional guidance or directions issued by the GLRO. 

Returning officers in other boroughs in a constituency, known as Borough Returning Officers (BROs) do not have a statutory function, however the CRO will work closely with BROs on operational issues. Whilst this guidance is for CROs, parts of it will also be relevant to BROs.

Guidance to support ROs with other types of election is also available.

You can also access Guidance for Candidates and Agents.

To help you use this guidance we have produced a Q&A document that should answer any initial queries you may have.