This is a guide to running staff governor elections in maintained schools, explaining who can stand for election and the procedures that should be followed when arranging a ballot.
Academies with elected staff trustees or staff local governors will need to check their articles and local terms of reference to see the rules, although procedures will often be very similar to those described here.
The Law On Staff Governor Elections
The relevant law for maintained schools is found in Schedule 2 of the Constitution Regulations (England) 2012. This very short Schedule only sets the following rules:
- the “appropriate authority” must run the election
- when the LA are the “appropriate authority” they can delegate this duty to the headteacher
- there cannot be a minimum number of votes cast for a governor to be elected (so a staff member could be elected with just one vote)
- all elections with more than one candidate must be held by ballot.
“Where a local authority are the appropriate authority in relation to a school, they may delegate to the head teacher of the school any of their functions under this Schedule.
“The appropriate authority must make all the necessary arrangements for the election of staff governors.
“The power conferred by paragraph 3 does not include power to impose any requirements as to the minimum number of votes required to be cast for a candidate to be elected.
“Any election which is contested must be held by ballot.”
Constitution Regulations (England) 2012
Who is the appropriate authority?
The “appropriate authority” for staff elections – the organisation that must run the election – is the same authority as for parent elections. This means that in community, nursery and voluntary-controlled schools it is the LA. For voluntary-aided and foundation schools it is the governing body.
However, in community, nursery and VC schools it is common practice for LAs to delegate responsibility for the election to the headteacher. It is also usual for the governing body in VA and foundation schools to delegate responsibility to the head.
Therefore it is usually the headteacher who runs the election, with the help of the clerk and support staff.
Who can stand for election?
A separate article looks at who can be a staff governor in detail, but the short answer is that the person must be employed by either the governing body or the LA under a contract on the date of the election. Any member of staff who fits that description is eligible, not just teachers.
“In these Regulations “staff governor” means a person who—
(a) is elected in accordance with Schedule 2 as a governor by persons who are employed by either the governing body or the local authority under a contract of employment providing for those persons to work at the school, and
(b) is so employed at the time of election.”
Constitution Regulations (England) 2012
Can candidates vote for themselves? Who else can vote?
Candidates can vote for themselves and they can nominate themselves too. All school staff employed by the LA or governing body under a contract are eligible to vote.
Can the headteacher vote?
Yes and so can any other governors who are employed by the school or LA, for example co-opted governors.
What happens if only one candidate stands?
They are elected unopposed. The law says a ballot is only needed for a contested election. In an uncontested election no ballot is required.
What happens if no-one stands for staff governor?
The post remains vacant until a volunteer is found. Unlike the rules for parent governors, boards cannot appoint someone to the role of staff governor themselves if a volunteer cannot be found via election.
The school should keep reminding staff of the vacancy and make sure any new staff are aware of it too.
Can the ballot be held electronically?
The law does not explicitly say that staff elections can be electronic (although it does say that for parent governor elections). The “appropriate authority” (usually the head) will need to decide whether to approve virtual voting. The easiest voting method is probably to put a ballot box in the staffroom.
Sample Letters and Ballot Paper
Example letters and a ballot paper are available on my templates and letters page. This includes a letter to advertise the vacancy, a letter to thank volunteers for applying and a letter to inform staff of the result.
If the board is lacking expertise in a particular area their advert can mention “any specific skills or experience that would be desirable in a new governor”, according to statutory guidance to the Constitution Regulations 2012. However, they cannot set additional eligibility criteria.
Boards should clearly explain the role of governor and the duties in terms of number of meetings held each term, link governor roles and so on, but they must not imply someone without a particular skillset is not welcome to stand for election.
“The purpose of governing bodies providing and publishing information about the role of a governor and the skills they ideally require is not to create additional eligibility criteria for potential candidates – which they do not have the power to do.
“It is for the electorate to elect their choice of candidate(s). The purpose of publishing the information is to simply inform the electorate of the governing bodies’ expectations, circumstances and ideal requirements.”
The Constitution of Governing Bodies of Maintained Schools: Statutory Guidance
Election Procedure
The following is the procedure recommended by most LAs.
- Email the advert and your LA governor application form to all staff and place an advert in the staffroom.
- In the email ask candidates to provide a short personal statement (perhaps 200-250 words) saying why they wish to be a governor.
- If you receive more than one application send a second email that includes the candidate’s personal statements and an attached ballot paper.
- Place a ballot box in the staff room with a supply of envelopes and use the “double envelope” system. Each voter ticks a box on the ballot paper and places their ballot in a blank envelope which they seal. This is placed inside a second envelope, on which they write their name.
- Each staff member can vote for one candidate only.
- The returning officer (usually the headteacher or the clerk) checks the names against a list to ensure each person is an eligible voter, throws the outside envelope away and the vote is then anonymous.
- The returning officer counts the votes. Candidates should be invited to attend the count.
- Ballot papers and other documents should be kept for a minimum of six months.
What is the timescale?
If your LA does not set a timescale for staff elections (my own does not) then whoever is running the election needs to set it. It might be reasonable to give staff say 10 to 14 working days to volunteer as a candidate and then another 10 to 14 working days for staff to vote.
Set deadlines with both a day and time specified, eg: “Votes must be cast by 3pm on 30 June 2021.” Late votes should not be accepted.
What happens if the vote is tied?
Recount the votes to check the number. If there is a definite tie local authorities usually recommend a random method of breaking the deadlock, for example drawing lots from a hat or tossing a coin. Alternatively one or more candidates could choose to withdraw.
Can an existing staff governor be re-elected?
Yes. As long as they are still employed by the school on the election date, they are eligible to stand for election again. However, note that they do have to be re-elected, so they must either win the election or be the only candidate and win unopposed.
For any elected role the board cannot simply vote to renew their term of office because that prevents other candidates from standing for office.
When does the term of office start?
The term of office starts from the date of election (the final day that votes could be cast). If no election was held the term starts from the deadline set for receiving applications.
If you held the election early and the old staff governor is still in post, the new governor’s term starts as soon as the old governor “expires”.
Default terms of office for staff governors are the standard four years but boards can impose any term between one and four years.