Who can become a candidate?

To qualify as a candidate for election to the National Assembly for Wales, a person must be:

at least 18 years old on both polling day and the day of nomination;
a British citizen, a citizen of the Irish Republic, the Commonwealth or another member state of the European Union.

Before signing the consent to nomination, prospective candidates must check that they do not hold positions or are not specified office holders that would lead to their disqualification from being an Assembly Member. There are a number of disqualifications for membership of the National Assembly for Wales, some of which are similar to those which apply to membership of the UK Parliament or European Parliament. For example, a person is disqualified from membership of the House of Commons under the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975 if they are:

a judge,
a civil servant,
a member of the armed forces,
a member of a police force or
a member of a foreign legislature.

These disqualifications also apply to membership of the National Assembly for Wales.

The National Assembly for Wales (Disqualification) Order 2006 identifies a number of specific office holders who are disqualified from membership of the National Assembly for Wales.

How to Become a candidate

A person will become a candidate either:

• on the last day for publication of notices of election, if on or before that day they declare themselves, or are declared by others, to be a candidate at the election, or

• on the date on which they declare themselves, or are declared by others, to be a candidate or are nominated as a candidate at that election (whichever is the earlier)

This definition is particularly important for the calculation of the candidate's election expenses.

Constituency and regional candidates

The National Assembly for Wales has 40 constituency Members and 20 Regional Members. The Government of Wales Act 2006 specifies that candidates cannot stand for election in a constituency and a region at the same time.

Candidates may not stand for election in more than one Assembly constituency or more than one region.

Any registered political party may submit a list of up to twelve candidates for election in each of five Assembly regions.

Nominations

To stand for election, each constituency candidate and individual regional candidate must be nominated by a separate nomination paper which must be signed by a subscriber. The subscriber may be either the candidate or another individual who must provide their full name and address.

A registered party's list of candidates to be regional members for a particular region must be submitted by the party's Nominating Officer to the Regional Returning Officer. A person standing as a candidate for a registered political party must also submit a certificate authorising their candidature, issued by or on behalf of the Nominating Officer of the party. Otherwise they may be described on the ballot paper as 'Independent' and/or 'Annibynol'; or will have no description at all.

Any description used by a party candidate must not be more than six words long (i.e. six words in English and/or six words in Welsh). This description, together with the candidate's full name and home address will appear on the ballot paper, with a registered emblem of that party if requested in writing.

The Returning Officer will confirm the exact arrangements for the time and place for delivery of nomination papers in the Notice of Election.

Consent

The candidate must agree to the nomination in writing on, or within one month before the close of nominations for it to be valid. He or she must sign a consent to nomination in the presence of one witness, who must also sign and give their full name and address. The form of consent must make a declaration that the candidate is not disqualified from standing. The consent must be delivered to the Returning Officer with the other nomination papers, who will decide on the validity of nomination papers and will reject a nomination if it is not completed according to the law.

However, the Returning Officer is not required to determine whether a candidate is disqualified. It is a serious offence to include false information on the nomination or consent, and a person found guilty of such an offence may face imprisonment for up to a year or an unlimited fine.

Election agents

Each candidate must appoint an election agent to be responsible to the candidate and in law for the proper management of the candidate's campaign. Candidates who do not appoint another person must act as their own election agent.

Certain people cannot, by law, act as a candidate's election agent, e.g. any officer or clerk appointed by the Returning Officer. It is important to take care in the appointment of an election agent, as a candidate can be liable for malpractice committed by the agent. Candidates can also appoint polling and counting agents to assist them.

Deposit

For a nomination to be valid, a candidate for return as a constituency member, or an individual candidate for return as a regional member, must deposit the sum of £500 with the appropriate Returning Officer at the place and during the time for delivery of nomination papers. A registered party's Nominating Officer is required to deposit the sum of £500 in relation to a regional list of that party for a particular region with the Regional Returning Officer at the place and during the time for delivery of regional lists. The deposit is usually required to be in legal tender or a UK banker's draft.

Campaign publicity material

Campaign publicity material is subject to a number of restrictions under electoral law, and is also subject to the general civil and criminal law relating to published material. All posters, placards and bills which refer to the election must carry an imprint on their face giving the name and address of the printer and publisher of the material. This also applies to all printed material distributed for the purpose of promoting or procuring the election of a candidate.

Spending limits

All candidates contesting an election are subject to limits on expenditure incurred in relation to an election. This limit is calculated by taking a fixed amount plus an amount for every person on the register of electors for that constituency. These amounts vary according to whether they are standing in an assembly seat which is coterminous with a parliamentary borough constituency or a parliamentary county constituency.

For an individual candidate at a regional election, this limit is calculated by adding together the maximum limits for each constituency within the region. The spending limits for candidates at a National Assembly for Wales election can be calculated as follows:
• For an Assembly constituency which is coterminous with a parliamentary county constituency, £7,150 together with an additional 7p for every entry in the register of electors

• For an Assembly constituency which is coterminous with a parliamentary borough constituency, £7,150 together with an additional 5p for every entry in the register of electors

• For an individual candidate at a regional election, a sum calculated by adding together the maximum limits for each constituency within the region

Election expenses

Election expenses are any expenses incurred on goods, services, property or facilities used for the purpose of a candidate's election from the date on which that person becomes a candidate. The election agent of every candidate must deliver to the Returning Officer a return concerning the candidate's election expenses within 35 days after the day on which the result of the election is declared. Bills or receipts to support all recorded items of expenditure should accompany the return (except where the amount is less than £20). It is important to note that a return must be submitted even if no expenses have been incurred. Donations of more than £50 can only be accepted from permissible donors and all donations of more than £50 must be reported in the election expenses return.

All election expenses returns must be accompanied by declarations made by the candidate and by the election agent.

Thinking of standing?

If you would like to stand as a candidate at the National Assembly for Wales elections, contact the returning officer for your constituency at your local authority for more information. To find out which constituency you live in, use our interactive map. All local authority websites can be accessed through our useful links page.

(The information on this page has been provided by the Electoral Commission)