Upcoming Elections & Elections Act

November 2023 GLA Meeting for Candidates & Agents 

Monday 6th of November - information can be found the London Elects website.

Future Elections

The following elections are scheduled to take place in the next four years:

1. Thursday 2 May 2024 - Mayor of London and London Assembly elections
2. Thursday 7 May 2026 - Council Elections

UK Parliamentary General Elections

The maximum term of a Parliament is five years from the day on which it first met. The current Parliament first met on Tuesday 17 December 2019 and will automatically dissolve on Tuesday 17 December 2024, unless it has been dissolved sooner by the King.

Polling Day would be expected to take place 25 days later.

Elections Act 2022

Implications for voters, candidates, and political parties

A press notice on Royal Assent of the Act was published on gov.uk on 28 April, and the House of Commons Library has updated its briefing on the passage of the Act. Much of the detail for the implementation of the Elections Act will be set out in secondary legislation, which will be made over the course of 2022/23 now that the primary legislation has received Royal Assent.

Significant changes have been introduced by this legislation which includes:

Voter Identification

• Electors needing to show an approved form of photo identity before voting in a polling station
• Electors without a suitable form of photo identity will be able to apply for a free Voter Identity Card from December 2022 - a link to the Government portal will appear here in due course
• Will be in force for any elections taking place from May 2023
• Accessibility at polling stations 
• Additional support will be provided to voters with disabilities at polling stations
• Voters with a disability can be assisted by anyone in future over the age of 18
• Will be in force for any elections taking place from May 2023

Absent voting - postal and proxy voting

• Political parties and campaigners banned from handling postal votes
• There will be a limit to the number of postal votes a person can hand in at a polling station
• Postal voters will need to make a fresh application every 3 years, instead of the 5-yearly signature refresh
• Electors will only be allowed to act as proxy for up to 4 people, of which no more than 2 can be "domestic electors" - i.e. not overseas voters
• Applications will require identity verification applications will include a requirement for the applicant's identity to be verified
• Secrecy and postal vote handling rules expected to be in place for elections taking place from May 2023
• Change to the three yearly application process will be transitional, starting from January 2024
• Postal vote application and new proxy limit expected for elections from May 2024
• Electors will be able to apply online for an absent vote
• The online application service is estimated to be available from July 2023

EU Citizens' Voting and Candidacy Rights

• EU citizens will no longer automatically be entitled to register, vote, and stand for election
• Two groups of EU citizens will retain their rights:
• 'qualifying EU citizens' from countries with reciprocal agreements, and who have leave, or do not require it, to remain in the UK - currently Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal and Spain
• 'EU citizens with retained rights' who were resident in the UK before 1 January 2021 - i.e. before the UK left the EU
• Applies to all local elections and referendums in England and to the Mayor of London and London Assembly elections
• Expected to be in place for the May 2024 Mayor of London and London Assembly elections on Thursday 2 May 2024

Overseas Electors

• The 15-year limit on British citizens living abroad is removed
• Overseas electors will be able to register at an address where they were previously registered OR even never registered, where they were last resident
• The registration period is extended from one year to three
• Expected to be in place by May 2024

What is BID?

A Business Improvement District (BID) scheme is a business-led initiative supported by government legislation. It gives local businesses the power to ‘raise funds locally to be spent locally’ on improving their trading environment.

The BID programme is funded by the businesses themselves through a levy on non-domestic rates. BID schemes usually operate for a period of 5 years.
For the BID to go ahead, two conditions must be met: over 50% of businesses that vote must vote in favour. Those businesses voting ‘yes’ must represent more than 50% of the total rateable value (RV) of all votes cast. If both these conditions are fulfilled, payment of the levy becomes mandatory for ALL eligible businesses, regardless of how they voted.