Political Restrictions

From January 2010, the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act removed the need for local authorities to maintain a list of posts which were politically restricted by virtue of earning above a certain salary. Posts are now considered to be politically restricted or not depending upon duties of the post.

In summary, restricted political activity includes:

becoming a Councillor, an MP or an MEP
announcing their candidature for election to a local authority, the House of Commons or the European Parliament
being an officer of a political party
canvassing on behalf of a political party or on behalf of a person seeking election
acting as an election agent or subagent for an individual
speaking in public where there is an intention to affect public support for a political party
to publish work which appears to be intended to affect public support for a political party.

Certain jobs are restricted from undertaking any form of political activity, while others require the prior authorisation of the Head of HR. Full details are given in the procedure below.