Town and Parish Council Vacancies

Current vacancies

The following parish/town councils have a vacancy for a councillor:

(There may be older vacancies not listed above that have been referred back to the parish/town council for co-option. For more information, please contact the clerk of your parish/town council or refer to their website.)

Become a Parish or Town Councillor

To become a parish or town councillor you will need to meet the criteria below.

If you meet the criteria and a vacancy is available, please contact your parish or town clerk to express your interest.

A candidate for a parish or town council is qualified if: 

• he or she is a British citizen, Commonwealth citizen, a citizen of the Irish Republic or a citizen of another European Union State.
• has attained 18 years of age, and
• is either in the register of electors for that parish/town, or has during the whole of the preceding twelve months:
  • occupied land in the area as owner or tenant
  • had a principal place of work there
  • resided in or within 4.8 kilometres (3 miles) of it.

When a casual vacancy occurs

A casual vacancy on a parish or town council will usually arise if a councillor has: 

• resigned
• passed away

Any resignation must be in writing to the Chairperson of the Parish Council. Once received, a resignation cannot be withdrawn. 

The clerk of the parish or town council must tell Electoral Services at Cornwall Council as soon as possible. Please follow the Notice of Vacancy procedure explained below.

A casual vacancy on a parish or town council will also occur if a councillor has: 

• failed to attend any meetings for six consecutive months. (Unless the reason for the failure was approved by the council before the expiry of that six month period.*)

(* If the failure to attend was not approved by the council, the person ceases to be a councillor under section 86 of the Local Government Act 1972.) 

If a councillor has failed to attend, the parish or town council must first declare a councillor's seat vacant.

As good practice, the parish or town council constitution should delegate authority for their proper officer to declare any vacancy under section 86 of the Local Government Act 1972. If the council has delegated that authority, they can declare the vacancy immediately after the person has ceased to be a member.

If the council’s constitution has not delegated authority to the proper officer, the vacancy must be declared at a council meeting. This can be in a report that the vacancy has occurred due to a failure to attend meetings.

After the parish or town council has declared a councillor's seat vacant, the clerk of the parish or town council must notify Electoral Services at Cornwall Council. Please follow the Notice of Vacancy procedure explained below.

Notice of vacancy procedure

When any vacancy occurs, the parish clerk must notify Electoral Services at Cornwall Council. This should be by e-mail to voter-registration@cornwall.gov.uk. The clerk should provide the name of the councillor who has caused the vacancy. For warded parishes, the clerk should state which ward the councillor represented on the council.

Electoral Services will then send a Notice of Vacancy to the parish clerk. The parish or town council must then advertise this notice on parish noticeboards and the parish website for 14 working days. That period excludes dies-non (e.g. bank holidays and weekends).

During that 14 working day period, electors can request an election. For an election to happen, the request must be: 

• made by 10 electors from the electoral area (the parish or, for warded parishes, the ward of the parish) where the vacancy exists;
• in a signed letter (or letters) to the Proper Officer, Electoral Services, Cornwall Council at our address below;
• received by the Proper Officer by the deadline specified in the notice of vacancy.

If you add your name to a petition, or write to us to request an election, please be aware that election petitions are public documents and are available for inspection. (Please see our privacy notice for more information.)

If the 14 working day period expires and an election has not been requested, we will inform the parish or town council. They can then co-opt a qualified person onto the council to fill the vacancy.

If a casual vacancy on a parish or town council occurs less than six months before the councillor's term of office was due to end, an election will not be held. However, the parish or town council may fill the vacancy by co-opting a person who is duly qualified.

Information packs for candidates

If you wish to be a candidate at an election, please contact us as soon as possible to request an information pack. Our contact details are at the bottom of this page.

The pack contains required forms and guidance on the election process. 

The election timetable begins when the Notice of Election is published. Candidates must return their completed nomination papers by hand and by the legal deadline to the place stated in the Notice of Election.

Privacy statement

The Returning Officer will only use the information you give them for electoral purposes. They will look after personal information securely and will follow data protection legislation. They will not give personal information to anyone else or another organisation unless they have to by law.

Under electoral legislation, documents for an election are retained for 12 months. They will then be securely destroyed, unless there is a reason not to, for example a legal challenge.

The Returning Officer is the Data Controller and is registered with the ICO and the registration number is Z1939752.

Further information relating to the processing of personal data is available in our elections privacy notice.