By-elections and Casual Vacancies

Casual vacancies

There are currently no casual vacancies for Vale of White Horse District Council.

By-elections

Abingdon Abbey Northcourt District ward and Abingdon Abbey Parish – 12 March 2026

Candidate expenses:

Expense limits for Abingdon Abbey Northcourt (District) and Abingdon Abbey (Parish)

Please ensure expenses are submitted (including nil returns) by the deadline of 16 April 2026 for district candidates and 9 April 2026 for parish candidates.

Guidance and spending return forms for district elections can be found on the Electoral Commission page here, and guidance and spending return forms for parish elections can be found here.

Stanford District Ward – 26 March 2026

Candidate expenses:

Expenses limit for Stanford (District)

Please ensure expenses are submitted (including nil returns) by the deadline of 30 April 2026.

Guidance and spending return forms for district elections can be found on the Electoral Commission page here.

Great Faringdon Parish Council – 21 May 2026 (if contested)

Following the publication of the Notice of Vacancies for Councillor Webb and Councillor Wild from Faringdon Town Council, the Returning Officer has now received sufficient requests for an election to be held. The Notice of Election (inviting nomination papers to be submitted by potential candidates) will be published on 15 April 2026. If sufficient valid nominations are received for the vacancy to be contested then a poll will be held on 21 May 2026.

If you wish to consider standing as a councillor, please see the guidance published by the Electoral Commission for standing as a parish councillor which should answer any questions you may have.

Key dates for this election:

Nomination period – Between 10am-4pm on 15-23 April (Monday-Friday only).

If contested, then the following deadlines will apply:

Registration Deadline – apply online by midnight on 5 May
Postal Vote Deadline – apply online by 5pm 6 May
Proxy Vote Deadline – apply online by 5pm 13 May
Voter Authority Certificate Deadline – apply online by 5pm 13 May
Publication of Notice of Poll and Situation of Polling Stations – 13 May
Deadline to appoint poll and count agents – 14 May
Day of Poll – 7am to 10pm 21 May

What is a by-election?

By-elections can occur in any division, ward or parish if a serving councillor resigns, dies or is disqualified, thereby creating a ‘casual vacancy’.

When a casual vacancy arises, the relevant council must publish a “Notice of Vacancy”. If a by-election is to be held, requests to fill the vacancy must be made in writing to the Returning Officer, fulfilling the criteria below:

For a district council vacancy a request for an election must have the signatures of two electors registered within the District.
For a parish or town council vacancy a request for an election must have the signatures of ten electors registered within the parish or parish ward (where warded), to be received before the deadline stated in the Notice of Vacancy.

The Returning Officer for Vale of White Horse District Council is Steven Corrigan.

If a sufficient number of requests are received, a Notice of Election will be published including the proposed date of poll, which signals the beginning of the nominations period. If we receive more nominations for the vacancy than the number of seats available, a poll will be held. A Notice of Poll will subsequently be published and advertised on our website and at our council offices in Abingdon.

The candidate elected at the poll will then serve the remainder of the term in office until the next election.

However, if a vacancy occurs within six months of the date of the next scheduled elections, the vacancy is carried over to the next elections. The seat will remain vacant during that time and no by-election will be held.

What happens if no candidates are nominated?

If we do not receive any candidate nominations for a by-election, the by-election must be re-run until we receive either the exact number of nominations to fill the vacant position(s), or receive more nominations than are required.

If we receive the exact number of nominations to fill the vacant position(s), the candidates are elected uncontested.