A BY-ELECTION, which was called to fill two vacancies on Westbury Town Council, has resulted in no candidates coming forward to stand.
The rare occurrence means that another notice of election for the Laverton ward will be publicised by Wiltshire Council in the hope that candidates will now come forward. The two vacancies arose following the resignations of town councillors Adam Berrisford and Georgie Denison-Pender. Due to electoral rules, the positions on the town council cannot be filled until nominations are received.
Westbury Mayor Christine Murray said, “It’s a farce! You would rightly assume that because a by-election had been called, you would think at least one person was going to stand. We’ll just have to see if someone wants to stand now.”
Cllr Mike Cuthbert-Murray said, “I’ve never heard of this happening before. I’m urging people interested in standing for the local community to come forward.”
Wiltshire Council anticipates that the new polling date will be towards the end of March, with a deadline for nominees later this month.
Should an election
have been called?
In the election process, 10 electors must make a request for an election to be called. In circumstances where an election is not called, the positions can be filled by the town council by co-option. However, in this case, as the election was requested for these vacancies, the seats can now only be filled via an election.
Cllr Stephen Miles obtained the details of 10 electors to call the election as he was keen for people to have a say on who their town councillors are. However, other councillors have criticised his move.
Cllr Mike Cuthbert-Murray said, “Stephen Miles should never have gone round and interfered in the electoral process. Councillors should not be going round doing this, it’s down to local people or political parties. It should be down to the local electorate as to whether they want to call an election, it’s costing taxpayers money. I’d urge him or any other councillor not to do it again.”
However, Stephen Miles has defended his actions saying he was aware of residents who did want an election to be called. “It is disappointing though not surprising to me that no-one has come forward for nomination in either of the two vacant seats. This is possibly because it may be thought that if no-one comes forward, there will be co-option instead. However, co-option I have always known is not permitted once the electorate has called for an election. Imagine how someone would explain themselves before a town council of why they can come forward for co-option, but not allow themselves to be nominated as a candidate in an election. There surely can be no explanation!
“When you co-opt, people have absolutely no say on who represents them.
“I don’t think all the councillors are happy with me going round because they thought it was cheaper to have co-option. But people should have their say. If we didn’t raise council tax it wouldn’t matter, but we do, and therefore I think people should have their say.”
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