Filling a casual vacancy in the office of parish councillor

If a vacancy arises on a Parish Council, due to an existing Councillor's resignation, disqualification or death, there is a process to fill the vacancy. Find out more about this process and see current vacancies.

Filling a parish council vacancy

If a vacancy opens on a parish council:

the parish council will notify the proper officer of the vacancy
the proper officer will send the parish council a notice to tell residents about the vacancy
the parish council have a duty to display the notice for 14 working days

To call an election either:

ten residents must write to the returning officer to ask for an election
these residents must be registered to vote in the area with the vacancy
if the parish is a ward, ten electors from the ward must request the election

What happens if an election is not called?

If an election is not called then:

the parish council will post a notice advertising the vacancy on its notice boards
notices will include the closing date for expressions of interest
the parish clerk will consider received applications

If there is only one applicant and they are not disqualified they may be co-opted on to the parish council. If there is more than one applicant, the parish council will vote.

Am I eligible for office?

To qualify for election and to be a councillor, an applicant must be:

a British, Irish or qualifying Commonwealth citizen
a citizen of any other member state of the European Union
18 years of age by the day of nomination or election (the 'relevant day')

They must also be one of the following:

on the relevant day and afterwards, are on the electoral register for the parish
for 12 months before that day, they have owned or tenanted land or premises in the parish
for 12 months before that day, their main or only place of work has been in the parish
for 12 months before that day, they have lived in the parish or within 4.8km (3 miles) of the parish boundary

Notice of vacancies

You can find our current vacancies at the bottom of this page.

What will disqualify me?

An applicant can be disqualified from standing for election or co-option if they:

are a paid officer or employee of that parish
have had bankruptcy restriction orders made against them
have a previous criminal conviction with a prison sentence of three months or more

If you would like more information, contact Electoral Services via:

01483 505050
visit the Electoral Commission website (opens new window) for more information.

Current vacancies

Notice of Vacancy for Ripley Parish Council (PDF, 84 KB)

Notice of Vacancy for The South East Ward of Shere Parish Council (PDF, 107 KB)