Elections
Elections are a democratic process where you can vote for and
elect political candidates to represent your views locally,
nationally and internationally. You must be included on the
electoral register to be able to vote in an election.
The Elections Team is responsible for running the following
elections held in Knowsley.
Running for Office
You can be a candidate if you are over 18, on the electoral
register or have lived, worked or owned property in the area for at
least the past 12 months. You must also be a British citizen, a
qualifying commonwealth citizen, a citizen of the Irish Republic or
a citizen of another Member State of the European Union.
You may be disqualified as a candidate if you work for Knowsley
Council or hold a politically restricted post with another local
authority.
If you are the subject of a bankruptcy restriction order in England
or Wales or have a previous criminal conviction with a three-month
or more prison sentence this would also disqualify you as a
candidate. The full range of disqualifications for candidates at
local elections is complex and some exceptions may also apply.
Most candidates are nominated through a political party.
However, individuals are welcome to stand in their own right as an
Independent candidate.
If you wish to stand as a candidate at an election, you must get
one person to agree to propose your nomination, another person to
agree to second the proposal and an additional eight people will
need to sign the nomination as assentors. All of these people must
be on the electoral register for the ward in which the candidate is
standing.
For further assistance or to request a Nomination Pack, please
contact the helpline on 0151 443 2222.
Local elections
Local Government elections are usually held on the first
Thursday in May. The next date scheduled in Knowsley is 6 May
2010.
Knowsley is divided into 21 electoral wards and all wards have
three councillors representing them. Each councillor serves
four years and come up for election on a rota basis. This is
because local elections are held in three out of every four
years, with one third of the 63 councillors retiring at each
election.
Parliamentary (general) elections
A Parliamentary election has to be called by Government and must
take place within five years of the date the last general election
was held. The next general election is scheduled to take place no
later than May 2010.
One MP (Member of Parliament) is elected for each Parliamentary
constituency by way of majority. Each MP then serves in the House
of Commons, representing their constituency.
The current constituencies covering Knowsley are:
- Knowsley North and Sefton East constituency, which covers
the Kirkby wards plus parts of Prescot West, Stockbridge and
Longview wards in addition to parts of Sefton.
- Knowsley South, which covers the remaining parts of the Borough
of Knowsley.
Knowsley's constituencies will change at the next general
election:
The remaining wards will constitute the Knowsley constituency
and this election will be administered as usual by Knowsley's
elections office.
European Parliamentary elections
European Parliamentary elections are held every five years with
the next election due to take place in June 2014. Knowsley is
part of the North West of England constituency,
which has eight MEPs.
At a European election, electors vote for a political party
instead of an individual. The number of seats that a party gets
depends on the share of the vote that it receives in each
region.
Parish elections
Knowsley has six parish councils, all with different wards and
councillors within their area. Elections are held every four
years with the next scheduled elections taking place in May
2011.
