Guidance for Returning Officers administering a Senedd election

The notice of the appointment must be delivered to you, by the latest time for the publication of the statement of parties and persons nominated, which is 4pm, 18 working days before the poll.1

Party list candidates

Each registered party submitting a party list must have notified you of the name of an election agent to act for all the candidates on the party list.2

A candidate on a party’s list can be named as the election agent for that party’s list.3

If you are not notified of the name of the agent by the latest time for the publication of the statement of parties and persons nominated the candidate who is first on the party’s list is deemed to be the election agent for that party list.4  

The candidate who is first on the party’s list is also deemed to be the election agent for that party list if:

• the agent’s appointment is revoked5
• the agent dies, and a replacement is not appointed on the day of the death or on the following day6

We have produced forms for the notification of the appointment of an election agent. These are included as part of the set of nomination papers we have produced for political parties.

You can find the nomination papers for political parties in the agents section of our resource page. 

Individual candidates

An individual candidate must have an election agent.7

Individual candidates may name themselves as their election agent.8

If you are not notified of the name of an agent by the latest time for the publication of the statement of persons nominated, the candidate is automatically named as their own election agent.9

We have produced forms for the notification of the appointment of an election agent. These are included as part of the set of nomination papers we have produced for individual candidates. 

You can find the nomination papers for individual candidates in the agents section of our resource page. 

Election agent’s office address

An election agent must have an office to which all claims, notices, legal process and other documents may be sent.10 The office address must be a physical address – PO boxes or similar mailboxes cannot be used.11 The address of the office must be declared at the same time you are notified of the appointment of the election agent.12

The agent’s office address must be in either:13

• the Senedd constituency in which the election is held or an adjoining Senedd constituency
• a county or county borough which is partly comprised in or adjoins the Senedd constituency 

If the address is outside the relevant qualifying area as defined above, you should contact the candidate and request that they provide an alternative address within the relevant qualifying area.

The election agent’s office address is often the same as their home address. Alternatively, it might be that of the local political party office, or an office especially set up for the election.

If a party list candidate is named as the election agent for the party or an individual candidate is named as their own election agent and their home address is also their office address and they have requested that their home address is not made public, then a correspondence address can be provided.14

The correspondence address must be in England or Wales. The correspondence address will be published on the notice of election agents instead of the office address.15

Where the candidate named first on the party list or an individual candidate is deemed to be the election agent because the Returning Officer has not been notified of an agent appointment, the office address will be deemed to be the address provided on the candidate’s consent to nomination.16

All candidates must provide an address on their consent to nomination to be used as an office address in the event they become an election agent by default.17