The race for City Hall begins

Nominations open for London’s 1 May elections

Nominations open on Tuesday 18 March for the largest single election held in the country – the elections for the Mayor of London and the London Assembly on 1 May.

The publication of the “Notice of Election” marks the start of the official election timeline and all candidates have until noon on Friday 28 March to lodge their nomination papers and deposits.

Candidates’ lists for the Mayor and the London Assembly will be published by noon on Tuesday 1 April.

Candidates for Mayor have to submit a nomination form, a “consent to nomination” form, a £10,000 deposit (returned if they get more than 5% of first choice votes) and collect 330 signatures of support from Londoners – 10 from each borough.

On Thursday 1 May, London’s 5.5 million voters will receive three ballot papers. One for the Mayor, on which they will have two votes, a first and a second choice, one to vote for a local Constituency Assembly Member and one to vote for a London-wide Assembly Member.

A multi-media campaign has been launched by London Elects with the Electoral Commission to ensure Londoners are aware of the elections and register to vote. The next phase of this campaign will start on 25 March.

Before 1 May a Mayoral address booklet will be sent to every registered voter, listing all of the candidates standing including manifestos from the Mayoral candidates and detailed information on how to vote.

For more information about the election log on to www.londonelects.org.uk

ENDS

For further information contact:

Emma Cassidy at London Elects. 020 7983 4447 or e-mail: emma.cassidy@london.gov.uk.

Notes to Editors:

London Elects is the independent body responsible for organising and publicising the elections for the Mayor of London and the London Assembly on 1 May 2008. Its role is to create awareness and understanding of registration and the voting process and encourage action.

The result for London Mayor is calculated using the Supplementary Vote system, the London Assembly is calculated using the Additional Member System.

London Elects – the Office of the Greater London Returning Officer – is managing the elections alongside the 32 London boroughs and the City of London.