Bill to extend council candidacy rights to Commonwealth citizens introduced

The Scottish Local Government Elections (Candidacy Rights of Commonwealth Citizens) Bill will rectify an issue concerning Commonwealth citizens in local government elections.

At present, while citizens from outside the Commonwealth with limited leave to remain can stand for election to local councils, Commonwealth citizens with the same status cannot. 

For example, a US citizen with limited leave to remain can stand in a council election but a Canadian citizen with limited leave to remain cannot.

This group of people were unintentionally left out of the Scottish Elections (Representation and Reform) Act 2025 which extended candidacy rights to foreign nationals with limited leave to remain. The 2025 Act was passed unanimously by Parliament.

There is no impact on candidacy rights for MSPs.