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Running for Office

There are a number of qualifications and disqualifications from standing for election for Public Office. These vary slightly according to the type of election being conducted.

For a U.K. Parliamentary Election to qualify as a candidate you must satisfy the following criteria on the day you are nominated and on polling day you must:

• have attained the age of at least 18 years; and
• be a British citizen, a citizen of another Commonwealth country or a citizen of the Republic of Ireland.

Citizens of other European Union countries are not eligible to become a member of the U.K. Parliament.

Certain people are disqualified from becoming a Member of Parliament:

• someone who is the subject of a bankruptcy restrictions order in England of wales, who had been adjudged bankrupt in Northern Ireland, or who has their estate sequestered in Scotland;
• a convicted prisoner who is serving a prison sentence of more than 12 months (disqualification under Representation of the People Act 1981);
• the Forfeiture Act 1870 disqualifies a person convicted of treason until the expiry of the sentence or in receipt of a pardon;
• certain people who are Crown Appointments, including:
  -         civil servants;
  -         members of police forces;
  -         members of the armed forces;
  -         government nominated directors of commercial companies;
  -         judges; and
  -         members of the legislature of any country or territory outside the Commonwealth;
• people found guilty of certain electoral offences (corrupt or illegal practices);
• peers who sit in the House of Lords by virtue of section 2 of the House of Lords Act 1999, i.e. those who can vote in the House of Lords; and
• bishops who are entitled to sit and vote in the House of Lords.

A detailed list of people who are disqualified from becoming Members of Parliament is set out in the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975.

There are some differences in qualification criteria in respect of other types of elections.

For example, a citizen of another E.U. state can stand in European Parliamentary Elections and there are restrictions in respect of Local Elections whereby paid officers of a council cannot stand for office as Councillors for that authority.

Some Senior Council officers and those regularly advising Councillors or speaking to the media on political issues are further restricted and cannot stand for elections to any principal authority or indicate support for a particular candidate at an election.

In order to stand for a registered political party, a candidate must gain the party's permission. Political parties have their own various eligibility criteria and selection procedures.

Candidates wishing to establish a new political party must submit the required information to the Electoral Commission.

Guidance on this, the nomination procedure and the election process generally is available in Candidates Guides published by the Electoral Commission. These deal with the incurring of expenses, role of election agents and other assistants and detail political election offences.