You can stand for election as an independent candidate or as a group/party political candidate. If you are a member or plan to join or stand as a member of a political party their agents will work for you. If you are standing as an independent member you will need to seek advice from different agencies.
To become a councillor you must put yourself forward for election. Unless a casual vacancy arises within a ward, elections take place on the first Thursday in May once every five years.
To stand for election you must complete a nomination form. These forms are made available on the relevant upcoming elections page or can be requested by contacting electoral services.
Nomination Packs can also be obtained by emailing electoralservices@rctcbc.gov.uk or in person at 10-12 Gelliwastad Road, Pontypridd, CF37 2BW.
Do I have the right qualifications?
Councillors come from all backgrounds and abilities. This is important so that they can represent their communities. Councils need councillors with a range of experiences, employment backgrounds and qualifications. As a member you’ll need to be able to understand reports that council officers write before you take decisions, you’ll also be expected to do most of your work on a computer and have good people skills to work with everyone in the community. Most members say that an understanding of your community, a willingness to listen and learn and some common sense is all you need.
I’d like to get some experience of being a Councillor, how can I do this?
If you’d like to get an idea of the type of work that is currently undertaken at meetings you can get experience prior to committing by attending open sessions held in the Council Chamber. This will allow potential candidates to gain insight into how meetings are run and enable you to view the Council Chamber facilities.
Potential candidates are also encouraged to view each committee’s web pages to understand the types of business undertaken at each committee.
Committee Structure - Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council
There are also recordings of previous meetings available to view online.
Webcast Library - Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council