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Find out how you can stand for election
Read Me Later
You can download this whole section about “Becoming a Local Council Candidate” as a PDF to print out and read at your leisure:
Becoming a Local Council Candidate (PDF 75.8Kb)
Becoming a Council Candidate
There are 1,222 Councillors working across Scotland's 32 Councils. Most Councillors (around 80%) are members of political parties. You don’t have to be affiliated to a political party -: candidates can stand as independents.
Scottish Ministers want to encourage as many people as possible to get involved in their communities and consider themselves as potential candidates. Even if you are not ready to stand this time round, you might think about standing at future elections.
Young people, women and ethnic minorities are particularly encouraged to think about becoming candidates.
Professionals with either full-time or part-time careers are also encouraged to consider standing.
The closing date for nominations is 11 April 2007.
Key Points
- People are encouraged to think of themselves as potential candidates
- Councillors represent local communities
- They work in Scotland’s 32 Councils (also known as Local Authorities)
- Council services include planning, social work and refuse collection
- The method of voting for Councillors is changing to Single Transferable Vote (STV)
Want to know more about your Local Authority?