Upcoming elections

Election results available

Results for the elections that took place on 12 December are available on our elections results page

Following the sad news of the passing of a long serving Councillor, Ian Grundy, we will hold two by-elections on Thursday 12 December 2024.

One is for the Stock division of Essex County Council, while the other is for the South Hanningfield, Stock and Margaretting ward of Chelmsford City Council.

You can find out more about the tiers of local government and what they do.

We will also hold a referendum on the Danbury Neighbourhood Plan on the same day.

Residents in the Stock Division of Essex County Council will have the opportunity to vote for one candidate to represent the Stock ward of Essex County Council.

The Stock division includes:

Bicknacre
Downham
East Hanningfield
Howe Green
Margaretting
Ramsden Heath
Rettendon
Runwell
Sandon
Stock
West Hanningfield
Woodham Ferrers

The ballot paper for this election will be white.

The Local Government Boundary Commission recently completed a review of the Essex County Council electoral boundaries. As the recommendations of this review have not yet been made into law, this election will take place under the existing boundaries.

Candidates

The candidates standing for election are:

Thomas Michael Allison, ReformUK - Changing Politics for Good
Stephen Edward Capper, Labour Party
Paul Hayden Clark, Independent
Sue Dobson, The Conservative Party Candidate
Edward Massey, The Green Party Candidate
Christine Margaret Shaw, Liberal Democrats

We are not allowed to publish any additional information about the candidates, but you may be able to find out more about them online.

Residents in the South Hanningfield, Stock or Margaretting ward will have the opportunity to vote for one candidate to represent their ward for Chelmsford City Council.

The ballot paper for this election will be lilac.

If you live in Downham, Margaretting, Ramsden Heath, South Hanningfield or Stock, you will receive two ballot papers; one for the ECC election and one for the CCC election.

Candidates

The candidates standing for election are:

Gillian Bonnett, The Conservative Party Candidate
Stephen Edward Capper, Labour Party
Edward Massey, The Green Party Candidate
Christine Margaret Shaw, Liberal Democrats

We are not allowed to publish any additional information about the candidates, but you may be able to find out more about them online.

The Danbury referendum will ask one question, to which you can answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’:

“Do you want Chelmsford City Council to use the neighbourhood plan for Danbury to help it decide planning applications in the neighbourhood area?”

You can find out full details about this, including a copy of the proposed plan, via the Consultation on Danbury Neighbourhood Plan page.

The ballot paper for this referendum will be pale green.

Monday 4 November: Information Statement published for Danbury Neighbourhood Plan Referendum
Thursday 7 November: Notice of Election and Referendum published
Thursday 14 November onwards: Delivery of poll cards
Monday 18 November: Confirmation of the candidates standing in the City and County Council elections
Thursday 21 November onwards: Delivery of existing postal votes
Tuesday 26 November (11.59pm): Deadline to register to vote
Wednesday 27 November (5pm): Deadline to apply for a postal vote
Wednesday 4 December (5pm): Deadline to apply for a proxy vote and a voter authority certificate
Thursday 12 December: Day of polling
Friday 13 December: Count and declaration of results

You will only be able to vote in these polls if you are a registered elector in either the:

Danbury Parish Council area
Stock County Division

If you voted in the last election and have not moved or changed your details since, you do not need to register again.

If you are not currently registered to vote, and wish to vote in these polls, you need to register on the GOV.UK website by midnight on Tuesday 26 November 2024.

You should receive your poll card for this referendum around Thursday 14 November 2024. If you do not receive a card by then, you need to call us on 01245 606449 to check you are registered to vote.

If you are eligible to vote in these polls, you can vote at your polling station. Make sure that you check your poll card as this may have changed since the last election.

You will need to present an accepted form of photo ID to vote in person at these polls. You can find out more about Voter ID, including what we can accept and how to apply for a free voter authority certificate.

Postal voting

If you have registered for a postal vote for these polls, we will start sending these out around Wednesday Thursday 21 November 2024.

The deadline to apply for postal vote is Wednesday 27 November 2024.

If you do not receive your postal vote by Friday 6 December 2024, we can issue you a new postal voting pack but we must receive a written request.

Proxy voting

You can appoint someone else to cast your vote on your behalf for the referendums. This is called a proxy vote.

The deadline to apply for a proxy vote is Wednesday 4 December 2024 .However, if you fall ill or are called away for work after this date, you may be able to apply for an emergency proxy.

You can find out more about all these topics, including how to apply or contact us about an issue, on our postal and proxy voting page.