The Bill makes a change to the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (the Act). The Act sets out the requirements for who is eligible to stand for election, be elected and hold office as a local-government councillor in Scotland.
The change affects Commonwealth citizens living in the UK who are citizens of Commonwealth countries other than the UK. While British citizens are also Commonwealth citizens, their position is unaffected by the Bill.
The Bill proposes that Commonwealth citizens with any type of leave to remain in the UK would be allowed to stand for election. If a person has “leave to remain” that means they legally have permission to stay in the UK for a period of time. They would also need to meet other criteria to be able to stand (for example, being aged 18 or over).
Without this change, Commonwealth citizens would only be able to stand as candidates at local government elections if they had indefinite leave to remain.
This Bill was introduced in the Scottish Parliament by Jenny Gilruth MSP, Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government on 9 September 2026.
Read and find out more about the Bill.
Given the limited scope of the Bill, and the low costs involved, the Finance and Public Administration Committee is not carrying out evidence-taking on the FM.
Read the FM published alongside this Bill.
Read the correspondence from the Convener of the Finance and Public Administration Committee to the Convener of the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee.