Be a Councillor

If you care about the area that you live or work in, and the issues facing local people, you may like to consider becoming a Swale Councillor, especially if you have specific opinions on issues affecting your local community or want to represent them.

The next Borough elections will take place on Thursday 2 May 2019, and Councillors elected will serve a four year term.

Your duties

If you become a Councillor, you’ll have certain decision making powers. You’ll also be responsible for:

• representing the part of Swale you’re elected to, known as a ward
• developing and reviewing our policies
• scrutinising decisions made by the Cabinet
• have regulatory, quasi-judicial and statutory duties, for example the Planning Committee
• community leadership and engagement

You will also sit on various committees and take part in decision making process. Most meetings take place in the evening, but other meetings such as with officers or your residents may need to take place during the day. You can find out more by downloading our prospective candidate guide (PDF 1.7MB).

Meeting with residents

There are many different ways you can choose to meet with residents as a Councillor including:

• surgeries
• email or social media
• speaking to residents over the phone

As a councillor, you’ll need to choose how you’re going to communicate with residents.

More information

For more information, you can contact our Democratic Services team online.