Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973

29 Qualifications for nomination, election and holding office as member of local authority. S

(1) A person shall, unless disqualified by virtue of this Act or any other enactment, be qualified to be nominated as a candidate for election as, or to be elected, or to be, a member of a local authority if he has attained the age of [F1 18] years, is a [F2 qualifying Commonwealth citizen] or a citizen of the Irish Republic [F3 or a [F4 qualifying foreign national]] [F5 or a schedule 6A national] and not subject to any legal incapacity and—

(a) is, on the day on which he is nominated as a candidate, a local government elector for the area of the authority; or

(b) has, during the whole of the twelve months preceding the day on which he is nominated as a candidate, occupied as owner or tenant any land or other premises in the area of the authority; or

(c) his principal or only place of work in the twelve months preceding the day on which he is nominated as a candidate has been in the area of the authority; or

(d) has, during the whole of the twelve months preceding the day on which he is nominated as a candidate, resided in the area of the authority.

F6 (1A) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(2) In subsection (1) above,

• F7 ...

• “owner” includes heir of entail in possession, liferenter and beneficiary entitled under any trust to the rents and profits of land or other premises, and does not include fiar of land or other premises subject to a liferent, or tutor, curator, judicial factor or commissioners.

[F8 (3) For the purposes of this section, a person is a qualifying Commonwealth citizen if he is a Commonwealth citizen who either—

(a) is not a person who requires leave under the Immigration Act 1971 to enter or remain in the United Kingdom, or

(b) is such a person but for the time being has (or is, by virtue of any enactment, to be treated as having) indefinite leave to remain within the meaning of that Act.

(4) But a person is not a qualifying Commonwealth citizen by virtue of subsection (3)(a) if he does not require leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom by virtue only of section 8 of the Immigration Act 1971 (exceptions to requirement for leave in special cases).]

[F9 (5) For the purposes of this section, a “qualifying foreign national” means a person of any nationality who—

(a) is not a Commonwealth citizen or a citizen of the Republic of Ireland [F10 or a schedule 6A national], and

(b) meets one of the conditions mentioned in subsection (6).

(6) The conditions are that the person—

(a) is not a person who requires leave under the Immigration Act 1971 to enter or remain in the United Kingdom (excluding a person who does not require such leave by virtue only of section 8 of the Immigration Act 1971 (exceptions to requirement for leave in special cases)), or

(b) is such a person but for the time being—

(i) has (or is, by virtue of any enactment, to be treated as having) indefinite leave to remain within the meaning of that Act, or

(ii) has pre-settled status.

(7) For the purposes of subsection (6)(b)(ii), a person has pre-settled status if the person has limited leave to remain in the United Kingdom granted by virtue of residence scheme immigration rules (within the meaning of section 17(1) of the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020).]

[F11 (8) For the purposes of this section, a “schedule 6A national” means a person who—

(a) is a national of a country for the time being listed in schedule 6A, and

(b) either—

(i) is not a person who requires leave under the Immigration Act 1971 to enter or remain in the United Kingdom, or

(ii) is such a person but for the time being has (or is, by virtue of any enactment, to be treated as having) any description of such leave.]

Textual Amendments

F1 Word in s. 29(1) substituted (20.1.2005) by Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004 (asp 9), ss. 8, 17(2); S.S.I. 2004/558, art. 2

F2 Words in s. 29(1) substituted (1.1.2007 for E.W.S. and 1.7.2008 for N.I.) by Electoral Administration Act 2006 (c. 22), ss. 18, 77, Sch. 1 para. 46(2); S.I. 2006/3412, art. 3, Sch. 1 para. 14(bb)(i) (subject to art. 6); S.I. 2008/1316, arts. 2(2), 4(z)(i)

F3 Words in s. 29(1) inserted (1.1.1996) by S.I. 1995/1948, regs. 1(2), 3(2)

F4 Words in s. 29(1) substituted (3.8.2020) by Scottish Elections (Franchise and Representation) Act 2020 (asp 6), ss. 3(2), 12(2); S.S.I. 2020/162, reg. 2

F5 Words in s. 29(1) inserted (20.7.2022) by Scottish Local Government Elections (Candidacy Rights of Foreign Nationals) Act 2022 (asp 4), ss. 1(2)(a), 3

F6 S. 29(1A) repealed (3.8.2020) by Scottish Elections (Franchise and Representation) Act 2020 (asp 6), ss. 4, 12(2); S.S.I. 2020/162, reg. 2

F7 Words in s. 29(2) repealed (3.8.2020) by Scottish Elections (Franchise and Representation) Act 2020 (asp 6), ss. 3(3), 12(2); S.S.I. 2020/162, reg. 2

F8 S. 29(3)(4) inserted (1.1.2007 for E.W.S. and 1.7.2008 for N.I.) by Electoral Administration Act 2006 (c. 22), ss. 18, 77, Sch. 1 para. 46(4); S.I. 2006/3412, art. 3, Sch. 1 para. 14(bb)(i) (subject to art. 6); S.I. 2008/1316, arts. 2(2), 4(z)(i)

F9 S. 29(5)-(7) inserted (3.8.2020) by Scottish Elections (Franchise and Representation) Act 2020 (asp 6), ss. 3(4), 12(2); S.S.I. 2020/162, reg. 2

F10 Words in s. 29(5)(a) inserted (20.7.2022) by Scottish Local Government Elections (Candidacy Rights of Foreign Nationals) Act 2022 (asp 4), ss. 1(2)(b), 3

F11 S. 29(8) inserted (20.7.2022) by Scottish Local Government Elections (Candidacy Rights of Foreign Nationals) Act 2022 (asp 4), ss. 1(2)(c), 3

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C1 S. 29 modified (8.11.1994) by 1994 c. 39, s. 7(1), Sch. 2 para. 3 (with s. 7(2)); S.I. 1994/2850, art. 2, Sch. 2

S. 29 applied (temp. from 6.4.1995 to 1.4.1996) by S.I. 1994/3255, art. 3, Sch. I para. 1