British Democracy Forum - View Single Post - Bournemouth council by-election on 15 December

Aardvark · 25-11-2005, 06:41 AM

There are set procedures for calling a by-election. The authority concerned has to notify the vacancy and then there is a very tight period for nominations.

The vacancy is notified by a Notice of Election displayed in the town, parish, district etc. In our town we use the public notice board. Presumably in Bournemouth there is a board at the entrance of the Town Hall. Nobody ever seems to read these things and many parish and town council by-elections have lone candidates as a result. The system is to a certain extent self-perpetuating since the local councillors of the other parties do keep an eye out for such notices and in any event are immediately aware when a councillor pops his clogs. The Notice of Election is displayed for 21 days for parish/town elections.

If there is a vacancy at parish/town level then people self-nominate and the councillors elect the new member unless 10 members of the electorate call for a by-election. At District level and above I think an election is called automatically. There is still a Notice of Election, but it displays a date for close of nominations. If there is only one nominee then he is returned unnopposed. Nominations require 10 signatures of electors in the ward concerned for all elections other than parish/town which require only 2.

Close of nominations in the General Election was Tuesday 19th April for an election on 5th May. There really isn't a lot of time if people aren't paying attention. Occasionally the big parties miss the deadline, but usually they have a designated constituency agent who has the job of keeping an eye out for these things.

The local council offices can keep people up to date with the regulations and it is worth being aware that there are such rules.

One strange custom is that the party of the deceased/resigned member gets to declare the vacancy and can leave a seat empty, if they so desire, until it was due to fall vacant. This happens if a seat falls vacant close to the due election date since few parties want to fight a campaign to win a seat that will only be held for a few weeks.

25-11-2005, 06:41 AM	#26 (permalink)
Aardvark Moderator Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Oxonia Posts: 3,692	There are set procedures for calling a by-election. The authority concerned has to notify the vacancy and then there is a very tight period for nominations. The vacancy is notified by a Notice of Election displayed in the town, parish, district etc. In our town we use the public notice board. Presumably in Bournemouth there is a board at the entrance of the Town Hall. Nobody ever seems to read these things and many parish and town council by-elections have lone candidates as a result. The system is to a certain extent self-perpetuating since the local councillors of the other parties do keep an eye out for such notices and in any event are immediately aware when a councillor pops his clogs. The Notice of Election is displayed for 21 days for parish/town elections. If there is a vacancy at parish/town level then people self-nominate and the councillors elect the new member unless 10 members of the electorate call for a by-election. At District level and above I think an election is called automatically. There is still a Notice of Election, but it displays a date for close of nominations. If there is only one nominee then he is returned unnopposed. Nominations require 10 signatures of electors in the ward concerned for all elections other than parish/town which require only 2. Close of nominations in the General Election was Tuesday 19th April for an election on 5th May. There really isn't a lot of time if people aren't paying attention. Occasionally the big parties miss the deadline, but usually they have a designated constituency agent who has the job of keeping an eye out for these things. The local council offices can keep people up to date with the regulations and it is worth being aware that there are such rules. One strange custom is that the party of the deceased/resigned member gets to declare the vacancy and can leave a seat empty, if they so desire, until it was due to fall vacant. This happens if a seat falls vacant close to the due election date since few parties want to fight a campaign to win a seat that will only be held for a few weeks.