Election of the Leader of the Council
To receive the report of the Democratic Services Manager on nominations received in respect of the election of the Leader of the Council. Under the Council’s current executive arrangements and in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 21(a), the Council shall elect the Leader for a four year term of office ending on the day of the next post-election annual meeting of the Council.
A councillor proposing to nominate another councillor as Leader must notify the Democratic Services Manager of their nomination, and the name of the councillor seconding the nomination, before the meeting at which the election is to be held.
Details of nominees and their proposers and seconders will be included on the Order Paper for the meeting.
If more than one councillor is nominated, the election of the Leader shall be by show of hands.
In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 21(d), the newly elected Leader of the Council may announce the appointment of the Deputy Leader and Lead Councillors on the Executive and the titles of the portfolios assigned to them.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
The Democratic Services Manager reported that he had received the following nominations in respect of the election of the Leader of the Council for a four-year period ending on the day of the next post-election annual meeting of the Council:
· Councillor Joss Bigmore (proposed by Councillor John Rigg and seconded by Councillor Christopher Barrass)
· Councillor Caroline Reeves(proposed by Councillor Fiona White and seconded by Councillor Jan Harwood)
In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 19 (d), Councillor Paul Spooner requested a recorded vote on the election of Leader, which was supported at the meeting by four other councillors.
At the suggestion of the Mayor, the Council agreed that the following process for dealing with a contested election for the leadership of the Council:
1. Each candidate shall be separately proposed and seconded, with each proposer and seconder speaking for up to five minutes.
2. The candidates to address the Council in support of their respective nominations for up to five minutes each.
3. Other councillors to comment on the nominations, for up to three minutes each, after which each candidate’s nomination to then be put to the vote.
Following this process, the Council
RESOLVED: That Councillor Caroline Reeves be elected Leader of the Council for a four-year period ending on the day of the next post-election annual meeting of the Council.
The result of the recorded vote on the election of Leader of the Council by the councillors present was as follows:
For Councillor Joss Bigmore (19 votes):
Councillor Paul Abbey
Councillor Tim Anderson
Councillor Christopher Barrass
Councillor Joss Bigmore
Councillor Chris Blow
Councillor Dennis Booth
Councillor Ruth Brothwell
Councillor Colin Cross
Councillor Diana Jones
Councillor Ann McShee
Councillor Bob McShee
Councillor Ramsey Nagaty
Councillor Susan Parker
Councillor John Redpath
Councillor Maddy Redpath
Councillor John Rigg
Councillor Tony Rooth
Councillor Deborah Seabrook
Councillor Catherine Young
For Councillor Caroline Reeves (23 votes):
Councillor Jon Askew
Councillor David Bilbé
Councillor Graham Eyre
Councillor David Goodwin
Councillor Angela Gunning
Councillor Gillian Harwood
Councillor Jan Harwood
Councillor Liz Hogger
Councillor Tom Hunt
Councillor Gordon Jackson
Councillor Steven Lee
Councillor Ted Mayne
Councillor Julia McShane
Councillor Masuk Miah
Councillor George Potter
Councillor Jo Randall
Councillor Caroline Reeves
Councillor Will Salmon
Councillor Pauline Searle
Councillor Paul Spooner
Councillor James Steel
Councillor James Walsh
Councillor Fiona White
Abstentions (4):
The Mayor, Councillor Richard Billington
Councillor Andrew Gomm
Councillor Nigel Manning
Councillor Marsha Moseley
The newly elected Leader of the Council announced the appointment of Councillor Fiona White as Deputy Leader of the Council.