Become a Councillor

Becoming a councillor is an extremely rewarding experience. It gives you the opportunity to help your local community and be part of a dedicated team providing key services for your area. Being a councillor is a great way to gain political experience and useful skills in public speaking, debating and problem solving.

New councillors are good news. They mean fresh ideas and fresh enthusiasm, and that will be good for your council.

Could you become a councillor?

To be eligible you must be:

1. A British subject or a citizen of the Irish Republic or the EU and resident in the UK.
2. At least eighteen years old on the day you are nominated.
3. Either on the electoral register for the council area in which you are seeking election.
4. Have lived or worked in that council area for at least the last twelve months.

Be a Councillor Project

The CCA works closely with the Be a Councillor Project run by the Local Government Association. It aims to celebrate the important work which councillors do and encourage new candidates from a wider talent pool to come forward. This will ensure that councils not only reflect their electorate in terms of gender, age or ethnicity, but attracts people with different personal and professional experiences, raising the quality of candidates and therefore the quality of councillors. For more information and to hear the experiences of some of our current Conservative councillors, please download the Be a Conservative Councillor guide.

Please also visit www.beacouncillor.org.uk.

“We are giving councils more powers to help shape their communities in ways that local people want. The best councils have representatives from a wide range of backgrounds bringing a wealth of experience to the role. If you are Conservative minded and care about your community you should think about standing as a councillor for your local area. This booklet is an excellent introduction to what it means to be a Conservative councillor and how to get involved.”

Rt Hon David Cameron MP, Former Prime Minister and Conservative Party Leader