Why local elections are important
Local Councils play a huge part in everyday life and Gateshead Council is responsible for providing essential services to the people who live, work in or visit the borough and local elections are your chance to say who you want to represent you at the council.
Local elections traditionally held on the first Thursday in May and this year election day will be Thursday 1 May.
Who are councillors and what do they do?
Gateshead Council is made up of 66 local councillors; these are the men and women who are elected to represent the residents of Gateshead to make the decisions about which services are provided.
Some examples of the sorts of things councillors do.They
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Decide on the level of Council Tax and the best way to spend the budget;
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Make decisions about licensing applications, school appeals, homeless appeals etc;
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Make decisions about planning applications, regeneration plans and developments in the areac
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Make decisions about recycling policies and travel plans.
Click here for more information about how the council works and who is who at Gateshead Council.
The Council is split into 22 areas called wards. Each ward is represented by 3 councillors.
A councillor is elected for a term of four years and in Gateshead councillors are elected by thirds. This means that each year 22 councillors retire, these are the councillors who have been serving for four years, and their seats are then contested at the local election.
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The councillor who is retiring can stand again as a candidate if he or she wishes to do so.
Local elections take place for three consecutive years and then there is a year when no local elections take place. This year is year three of the cycle and there are not any scheduled local elections in 2009.
Who can be a councillor
To be able to be a councillor you need to be nominated as a candidate and be elected at the local election. You need to be nominated and seconded and supported by eight other people from the ward you want to represent.
Many people choose to stand in local elections either as a representative of a political party or in their own right as an "Independent" candidate.
In order to be eligible to stand as a candidate you must:
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Be at least 18 years of age and live or work in the local authority area, or own property there;
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Be a British Citizen, a qualifying Commonwealth citizen, or a citizen of any other member state of the European Union;
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Not work for Gateshead Council;
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Not be bankrupt or have been sentenced to a term of three months imprisonment in the last five years.