Upcoming elections

Upcoming elections Upcoming elections County council elections Essex County Council elections take place every four years. The elections scheduled for May 2025 were postponed by the government to deliver devolution and will now take place on 7 May 2026. However, the election in Springfield is now delayed due to the death of a candidate. You can read more about this elsewhere on this page. Chelmsford City Council administers the elections in the Chelmsford area on behalf of Essex County Council. Chelmsford City Council by-election for Broomfield and The Walthams Following the resignation of Cllr Nicola Bugbee, we will hold a by-election for the Broomfield and The Walthams ward of Chelmsford City Council. This means that voters in this area will receive two ballot papers: Essex County Council election (white ballot paper) Chelmsford City Council election (lilac ballot paper) This is the only area of Chelmsford that will receive two ballot papers. Poll card delivery: around Monday 30 March 2026 List of candidates published: Friday 10 April 2026 Deadline to register to vote: Monday 20 April 2026 (midnight) Deadline to apply to vote by post or change existing postal votes: Tuesday 21 April 2026 (5pm) Deadline to apply to vote by proxy or change existing proxy votes: Tuesday 28 April 2026 (5pm) Deadline to apply for Voter Authority Certificates (voter ID): Tuesday 28 April 2026 (5pm) Polling day: Thursday 7 May 2026 (7am to 10pm) Count and publication of results: Friday 8 May 2026 You can find general information about this topic on our postal and proxy votes page. Postal voting If you are going to be away, or can’t get to your polling station on 7 May, you can apply to vote by post. You can find out how to apply for a postal vote The deadline for applying for a postal vote is 5pm on Tuesday 21 April 2026. We will start sending out postal votes around 16 April 2026. If you apply to vote by post, we will send your ballot papers to you by post, and you must return them by 10pm on election day. You can return you completed ballot by post or deliver it to us by hand. Your postal voting pack may look different this year. We are attaching your ballot paper to your postal voting statement, to ensure that you receive all of the important documentation securely. Proxy voting If you apply for a proxy vote, you can appoint someone else to cast your vote for you. This should be a friend or family member that you trust. You can find out how to apply for a proxy vote Unless your proxy sets up a proxy postal vote, they will have to go to your polling station to cast your vote. The deadline to apply for a proxy vote or change your existing proxy vote is 5pm on Tuesday 28 April 2026. However, if you fall ill or are called away for work after this date, you may be able to apply for an emergency proxy. You will only be able to vote in these polls if you are registered elector, eligible to vote in this type of election and live in one of the Chelmsford divisions of Essex County Council, or in the Broomfield and The Walthams ward of Chelmsford City Council. If you voted in the last election and have not moved or changed your details since, you do not need to register again. If you are not currently registered to vote, and wish to vote in these polls, you need to register on the GOV.UK website by midnight on Monday 20 April 2026. Poll cards If you are registered, you should receive your poll card from Monday 30 March 2026. Your poll card may be in the form of a letter, but the envelope will be clearly labelled. If you do not receive a poll card after this date, you can call us on 01245 606449 to check you are registered to vote. Make sure that you check which polling station you need to go to, as this may have changed since the last election. You can also find your polling station However, you do not need a poll card to vote. Voter ID You will need to present an accepted form of photo ID to vote in person at these polls. You can find out more about Voter ID , including what we can accept and how to apply for a free voter authority certificate. Broomfield and The Walthams (CCC by-election) Chris Davy, Reform UK David Howell, Labour Party Kevin Terence Kuken, Green Party Seena Shah, The Conservative Party Candidate Rachel Wheelhouse, Liberal Democrats Broomfield and Writtle (ECC division) Chris Davy, Reform UK Kevin Terence Kuken, Green Party Jessica Peacock, Labour Party Mike Steel, The Conservative Party Candidate Rachel Wheelhouse, Liberal Democrats Chelmer (ECC division) Peter Alexander Dixon, Labour Party Robert Paul Jerome, Reform UK Smita Rajesh, Liberal Democrats Rengarajan Subramanian, The Conservative Party Candidate Mike Thompson, Green Party Chelmsford Central (ECC division) Reza Hossain, Green Party Jonathan David Legg, Labour Party David Loxton, Liberal Democrats Howard Rogers, Reform UK Kamla Sangha, Independent Nicholas Anthony Stanig, The Conservative Party Candidate Chelmsford North (ECC division) Aidan Hargitt, Reform UK David Howell, Labour Party Edward Massey, Green Party Stephen Robinson, Liberal Democrats Stacy Seales, The Conservative Party Candidate Chelmsford West (ECC division) Robert Terence Adams, The Conservative Party Candidate Ronnie Bartlett, Green Party Hazel Clark, Liberal Democrats Jack Edward O'Hara Robinson, Labour Party Chris Wing, Reform UK Danbury and The Hanningfields (ECC division) Sue Baker, Liberal Democrats Paul Hayden Clark, Reform UK Steve Davis, Independent Finn Rehal, Labour Party John Andrew Spence, The Conservative Party Candidate Angela Thomson, Green Party Great Baddow and Galleywood (ECC division) Kevin Bellamy, Reform UK Kieron Franks, Liberal Democrats Richard Joseph John Hyland, Independent Shirley Mason, Labour Party James Raven, The Conservative Party Candidate Amit Shah, Green Party Springfield (ECC division) Adam Kenningham-Brown, Labour Party Mike Mackrory, Liberal Democrats Chris Rees, Green Party Tomy Sebastian, Reform UK David John Wilkinson, The Conservative Party Candidate Woodham Ferrers (ECC division) Christopher Benn, Reform UK Keith Bentley, South Woodham Ferrers Residents Party Alicia Cash, Green Party Donna Eley, Liberal Democrats Jonathan Gatenby, Labour Party Bob Massey, The Conservative Party Candidate We cannot publish any further information about electoral candidates, due to electoral laws. You may be able to view some candidate details on whocanivotefor (Chelmsford City Council does not monitor or maintain this information). The Local Government Boundary Commission England (LGBCE) has reviewed Essex County Council's internal voting boundaries. This means that the area that you are voting in may have changed from the last Essex County Council elections in 2021. In some areas, they have redrawn boundaries to create new divisions. For example, the Stock division has been abolished. It has replaced by Danbury and The Hannningfields, with Stock and Margaretting now included in the Broomfield and Writtle division. In other areas, the area has just been renamed, like in Great Baddow and Galleywood. Chelmsford still has nine divisions and will elect nine county councillors. The divisions are: Broomfield and Writtle Chelmer Chelmsford Central Chelmsford North Chelmsford West Danbury and The Hanningfields Great Baddow and Galleywood Springfield Woodham Ferrers You can find out more about these changes and view a map on the LGBCE website CCC by-election CCC: Statements of Persons Nominated CCC: Notice of Election Agents CCC: Notice of Election CCC: Notice of Vacancy for Broomfield and The Walthams ECC elections ECC: Statement of Persons Nominated ECC: Notice of Election Agents ECC: Notice of Election Following the sad news of the death of Cllr Mike Mackrory, the election for the Chelmsford Springfield Division of Essex County Council will no longer go ahead on Thursday 7 May 2026. We will now hold the election on Thursday 18 June 2026. We are contacting residents in the area to notify them of the new poll date. If you have already received a postal vote, you need to dispose of it and wait for us to issue a new one. If you have already returned your postal vote, we will dispose of it and will not count it. All other previous candidates remain validly nominated and will be included on the ballot paper. If you wish to stand as a candidate, you need to submit your nomination papers by Thursday 21 May 2026. We will confirm any new candidates on Friday 22 May 2026. You can check the boundaries for the Chelmsford Springfield division Key dates for the new poll Notice of election: Wednesday 13 May 2026 Arrival of poll cards: around Monday 18 May 2026 Confirmation of candidates: Friday 22 May 2026 Arrival of postal votes: around Friday 29 May 2026 Deadline to register to vote: Tuesday 2 June 2026 Deadline to apply for a postal vote: Wednesday 3 June 2026 Deadline to apply for a proxy vote or voter authority certificate: Wednesday 10 June Confirmation of results: Friday 19 June You can also view the official cancellation notice City and parish-tier elections The last city and parish-tier elections were in 2023 and the next are due in May 2027. General election A general election took place on 4 July 2024. The date of the next election will be set by the government. For a general election, Chelmsford residents are divided into three parliamentary constituencies: Chelmsford (administered by us) Maldon (administered by Maldon District Council North West Essex (administered by Uttlesford District Council You can check your parliamentary boundary online Other useful information You can also find out more about: how to stand for election who represents you what different types of council do