Durham County Council and Burnhope Parish Council Elections - 1st May, 2025
7th of February, 2025
- County Council and Parish Council elections will take place throughout County Durham on Thursday 1 May 2025. Residents across the County will be voting to decide who will be elected as their County Councillors for the 51 electoral divisions within County Durham. Residents will also be voting to elect parish councillors in 197 Parish areas across County Durham, if all the seats are contested.
- The Returning Officer (RO) for County Durham is John Hewitt. He will be responsible for the co-ordination of this election across County Durham.
- The first-past-the-post voting system, where you vote for your preferred candidate, and the candidate with the most votes wins the election is used at local elections in England. For divisions/wards with more than one seat available, the candidates with highest number of votes for the seats available will win. For example, if the division has two seats available, the two candidates with the most votes win the seats.
- Previous election results can be viewed at Election results.
- To take part in the County Council and Parish Council elections, you must be registered to vote. You can do this at Register to vote.
- You are required to show photo ID when voting in a polling station. Accepted forms of photo ID include passports, photo driving licences and concessionary travel passes, such as an older person's bus pass. Expired photo IDs will be accepted if the voter is still recognisable from the photo. A full list of accepted photo IDs can be found at Gov.uk: how to vote - photo ID you'll need. If you do not have an accepted form of photo ID, you can apply for a free Voter Authority Certificate - Gov.uk: apply for photo ID to vote (called a ‘Voter Authority Certificate’).
- If you live in County Durham, you can check your polling station location by entering your postcode at Find your polling station.
- You can vote in person on the day, by proxy or by post. See How to vote for further information. For any other queries, please contact Electoral Services on 03000 261 212 or by email at electoralservices@durham.gov.uk.
Important registration dates
| Event | Date (deadline) |
|---|---|
| Register to vote | Friday 11 April 2025 |
| Apply to vote by post or vote by proxy by post, or make changes to existing ones | By 5.00pm, Tuesday 14 April 2025 |
| Apply to vote by proxy (not emergency proxies) | By 5.00pm Wednesday 23 April 2025 |
| Apply to get a lost / spoilt postal vote replaced | From Friday 25 April 2025 to 5.00pm on Thursday 1 May 2025 |
| Polling Day | Thursday 1 May 2025 from 7.00am to 10.00pm |
| Deadline for emergency proxy applications | By 5.00pm on Polling Day, Thursday 1 May 2025 |