Election information for potential candidates

Worcestershire County Council elections 2025

For information about other areas within the county, or about the election in general, please visit the County Council website.

If you intend to stand as a candidate for these areas or act as an election agent for a candidate, please contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to provide your email address, name, and the division you are considering standing in.

By providing this you consent to receive emailed updates and official notices relevant to the May 2025 elections in those areas, you can opt-out at any time. We will also use these contact details to send invitations to digital events (see important dates below) 

Important dates

Date/Time	Event	Location
12 March 2025 Wednesday 6pm	Candidates & agents briefing	Online
20 March 2025  Thursday	Publication of Notice of Election	-
20 March 2025 - 2 April 2025 10am-4pm.	Informal checks and formal submission of nomination papers	The Guildhall
2 April 2025 Wednesday 4pm	Nomination deadline Withdrawal deadline	-
3 April 2025 Thursday 4pm	Publication of Statement of Persons Nominated	-
11 April 2025 Friday	Voter registration deadline	-
11 April 2025 Friday	Despatch of final postal votes – for postal votes granted before 28 March. Please note: these are posted first class but the delivery date could be up to 15 April	-
14 April 2025 Monday 5pm	Postal vote application deadline	-
22 April 2025 Tuesday 6pm	Candidate & agent count briefing	Online
22 April 2025 Tuesday	Despatch of initial postal votes – for postal votes granted from 28 March. Please note: these are posted first class but the delivery date could be up to 25 April	-
23 April 2025 Wednesday 5pm	Proxy vote application deadline and Voter Authority Certificate application deadline	-
23 April 2025 Wednesday 11am	Opening of postal ballot packs	Guildhall Access restricted for security.
24 April 2025 Thursday	Deadline for appointment of poll and count agents	-
25 April 2025 Friday 11am	Opening of postal ballot packs	Guildhall Access restricted for security.
25 April 2025 Friday	First date we can reissue lost (including undelivered) postal votes. Please note: electors should not wait until this date to contact us but should do so as soon as they realise they have lost/spoilt their vote, or become concerned that it has not been delivered.	-
30 April 2025 Wednesday 11am	Opening of postal ballot packs	Guildhall Access restricted for security.
1 May 2025  Thursday 7am-10pm	Polling day	-
1 May 2025 Thursday 3pm	Opening of postal ballot packs	Guildhall Access is restricted for security.
1 May 2025   Thursday from 10pm	Receipt of ballot boxes	Guildhall Access is restricted for security. Tickets required.
2 May 2025 Friday from 10am Results expected from 1pm	Verification & Count	Guildhall Access is restricted for security. Tickets required.
6 June 2025 Friday	Last date for submission of candidate spending returns	-

Candidate forms

All candidate forms are available for download from the Electoral Commission website.

Nomination forms have changed since the last County Council election, so please ensure you download and use the current version from the Electoral Commission website .

Polling and Counting Agent appointment forms can also be found on the same website.

Candidate spending return forms can also be found on the same website.

To request the electoral register, or postal voter lists, for the area you are standing in please use these forms:

• pdf Register (88 KB)  
• pdf Absent voters (128 KB)

The Returning Officer can print these forms for you to collect from the Elections office upon request.

Nomination forms must be hand-delivered to the location stated on the Notice of Election by the candidate, their agent, or a person that they trust.

Other forms may be emailed to the Electoral Services team.

Boundary changes

Candidates who have stood in previous years should note that some Divisions have had changes to their boundaries and some have new names. You can view the changes on the LGBCE website. 

Guidance

Please read the following guidance:

Electoral Commission guidance.

Voter ID

For all elections in England, all electors voting in-person at a polling station will need to show photo identification before they are given a ballot paper.

You can read the information we have provided for electors on our Elections 2025 page and more information is available at the Electoral Commission website.

Please ensure that you have carefully read all the information on Voter ID before speaking to electors about the issue. If you are not sure about anything you can ask us or direct the elector to contact us.

If you are speaking to an elector about them applying for a Voter Authority Certificate (VAC), please be aware that the Electoral Commission recommends that candidates or campaigners do not assist with these applications. This is due to the personal information an elector would need to share with you for you to assist them. The Guildhall customer services team can assist with any elector wishing to apply for a VAC.

Postal and Proxy voting

If you are speaking to an elector about applying for a postal or proxy vote, please explain all the voting options and discuss the implications of voting by post. Campaigners can encourage electors to apply for an absent vote but must inform them of all their options.

Postal votes, and certain types of proxy vote, can be applied for online:

• Apply for a postal vote
• Apply for a proxy vote

Paper forms can also be downloaded from these websites or are available on request from the Electoral Services Office.

Electors should be encouraged to send any paper application forms directly to the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO), if a campaigner does receive an application form you must send it to the ERO within two working days.

Candidates should note the changes to the handling of postal votes and postal vote secrecy regulations created by the Elections Act 2022 and coming into effect for this election. Please see the Electoral Commission guidance for more details.

Restrictions on campaigning

Election materials must not be displayed on Council property or street furniture. If you see any election material displayed on Council property or street furniture, please alert the Electoral Services team at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Councillors must not use Worcester City Council’s headed paper, logo, Coat of Arms, and “worcester.gov.uk” or “worcestercity.net” email addresses for election purposes, and they should not include these Council email addresses in any election materials.

Tellers

Candidates may employ tellers outside polling stations to record who has voted. Tellers are not allowed inside the polling place, the building the polling station is in.

They have no legal status and voters can refuse to give information to them.

Tellers cannot impede or interfere with the administration of the election and must comply with instructions issued by election staff.

Tellers may remind voters as they approach the polling station that they will need to provide photo ID in order to be issued with a ballot paper. However, tellers must not ask to see or check any voter’s photo ID themselves.

Campaigners are allowed to put their messages to voters in public spaces outside polling places, but tellers should not be campaigning while also acting as a teller.

Polling and counting agents

Polling agents may be appointed, but there is no requirement to do so. Their purpose is to detect personation in a polling station. No more than one polling agent may be admitted to a polling station at the same time on behalf of the same candidate, and no more than four polling agents may be appointed to any polling station.

The Deputy Returning Officer has exercised their right to revise this limit; for each division the maximum number of polling agents that may be appointed to any polling station is the same as the number of candidates for that division. This will allow all candidates to appoint one polling agent in those divisions with more than four candidates.

Counting agents may attend the verification and counting of votes to observe the proceedings but are not allowed to touch the ballot papers at any stage of the proceedings. The Deputy Returning Officer will confirm the number of counting agents each candidate is permitted to appoint closer to the date of the count.

Postal vote handling by political campaigners

Since 2024, it is a criminal offence for a political campaigner to handle any postal vote other than their own, that of a close relative, or someone they provide regular care for.

You should direct electors to post their postal votes back as soon as possible, or hand them in themselves at a polling station or the Guildhall up to 10pm on polling day. If a political campaigner handles another person’s postal vote, that vote may be rejected.

Candidate spending

All candidates must submit spending returns by the date listed in the Important Dates section above. Candidates standing in electoral divisions administered by the Worcester City Deputy Returning Officer should submit these returns to us, and not to the County Council.

Spending limits are set by law at £960 plus 8p per registered elector in the division on the March register.

Division	Registered electors	Limit £
Bedwardine	7569	1565.52
Claines	7581	1566.48
Nunnery	7225	1538
Rainbow Hill & Fort Royal	8267	1621.36
Riverside	8032	1602.56
St John	7321	1545.68
St Peter	8053	1604.24
St Stephen	7841	1587.28
Warndon & Elbury Park	7233	1538.64
Warndon Villages	8114	1609.12

Use of schools and rooms for public meetings by Election Candidates and Agents

The Council maintains a list of schools and rooms that can be booked by candidates to promote their candidature between the last day of publication of the Notice of Election (or the receipt of Writ at a PGE) and the day preceding the date of Poll.

• pdf Rooms for Use by Candidates and Agents.pdf  (81 KB) (PDF)

Candidates and agents should contact the owner of the premises to make a booking, giving reasonable notice to reduce the risk of the request being refused.

There is no hire charge for using these rooms, but you must pay for any expenses incurred, such as heating, lighting and cleaning, and for any damage to the premises.

The right to use schools does not include hours during which a school is used for educational purposes, and any prior letting must take precedence.

Further information

Please contact the elections team if you have any further queries on 01905 722530 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

If you need to contact the Police Single Point of Contact (SPOC), you can do so on 01905 334573 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

If you need to contact the Electoral Commission, you can do so on 0333 103 1928 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

You can also find more information about being a councillor on the Local Government Association website