Candidates

(asked on 1st June 2018) - View Source

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the implications are for the Government's policies of recommendation 25 of the report of the Association of Electoral Administrators entitled It’s time for urgent and positive Government action: The AEA’s review of the 2017 local government elections and the UK Parliamentary general election, published in September 2017, on the Government reviewing nomination arrangements for all elections specifically in respect of the requirement for subscribers and deposits.


Answered by
Chloe Smith Portrait
Chloe Smith
This question was answered on 8th June 2018

On the issue of subscribers, we note that this provision is there to ensure that any candidate can be shown to have a level of support within the electoral area. To remove this requirement could mean that people stand who are not serious candidates which would increase the costs of running polls.

On the issue of deposits, the Government does not currently have any plans to amend the requirement for candidates at certain elections to pay a deposit in order to stand. Along with the requirement for subscribers, this provision is in place in order to deter candidates who are not serious about standing for election; it is not intended to restrict participation in the democratic process. The amount required as a deposit varies depending on the specific election (for UK general elections it is £500 – a figure unchanged since 1985); it needs to be set at a level which strikes an appropriate balance between encouraging participation and preventing frivolous candidates from standing. This is particularly important when considering that candidates’ election addresses are delivered at taxpayer’s expense.

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