Post Election Activities

Now the Elections are over a number of people have asked what happens now with everything, so I thought I would do a post about the different things.

Winners and Losing Candidates.
For those Cllrs that lost their seats on the Council they are no longer a Cllr from today. Candidates that were successful can now be official be called Cllr from today. The period from the election till the 4th day after you are referred to as elected. You take and lose office on the 4th day after the elections. Don't ask me why, I can only presume that it allows out going Cllrs to finalise things.

Q. Is there any paper work for the Elections?
A. It is interesting the number of people that have asked is there much paper work to do after the elections. In terms of candidates that win they sign a form taking up office. Historically this was done during the Friday day time at the Town Hall but I saw the Council asking winning candidates to sign as they came off the stage after they had won. The losing candidates and any outgoing Cllrs do not need to sign anything.

In terms of the elections then the candidates, or if they have an agent then they, have to do a Candidates return. This is to show what they spent on their campaigns and where the money came from, i.e their own pockets, political parties etc. These have to be returned to the Returning Officer at the Town Hall 35 calendar days after the declaration. Once they have been returned the Council hold them for  12 months and they can be viewed by any member of the public.

Q. Why is there a return?
A. In an election you are set a fix amount how much you can spend on your campaigns. This is to try and have some level playing field so someone with lots of money cannot simply pour money into the campaign to win. The amount is has two parts to it. There is a fix about for every ward (£740) and then you there is an additional 6p per elector that you can spend.