Vote of 'no confidence' in the Chair/ Mayor

A frequent question that is often put to LALC is if the parish / town council can pass a motion of 'no confidence' in the Chair / Mayor.

The role of Chair / Mayor is a statutory role set out in S15 Local Government Act 1972 which states

15Chairman and vice-chairman of parish council or meeting.

(1)The chairman of a parish council shall be elected annually by the council from among the councillors.

(2)The election of a chairman shall be the first business transacted at the annual meeting of the parish council and if, apart from subsection (8) below, the person presiding at the meeting would have ceased to be a member of the parish council, he shall not be entitled to vote in the election except in accordance with subsection (3) below.

(3)In the case of an equality of votes in the election of a chairman the person presiding at the meeting shall give a casting vote in addition to any other vote he may have.

(4)The chairman shall, unless he resigns or becomes disqualified, continue in office until his successor becomes entitled to act as chairman.

(5)A parish council may pay the chairman for the purpose of enabling him to meet the expenses of his office such allowance as the council think reasonable.

(6)The parish council may appoint a member of the council to be vice-chairman of the council.

(7)The vice-chairman shall, unless he resigns or becomes disqualified, hold office until immediately after the election of a chairman at the next annual meeting of the council.

(8)During their term of office the chairman and vice-chairman shall continue to be members of the council notwithstanding the provisions of this Act relating to the retirement of parish councillors.

(9)Subject to any standing orders made by the parish council, anything authorised or required to be done by, to or before the chairman may be done by, to or before the vice-chairman.

(10)In a parish not having a separate parish council, the parish meeting shall, subject to any provisions of a grouping order, at their annual assembly elect a chairman for the year who shall continue in office until his successor is elected.

This means that the Chair / Mayor and the person occupying the role of Vice Chair as specified in subsection 4 of this section "shall, unless he resigns or becomes disqualified, continue in office until his successor becomes entitled to act as chairman."  A motion of 'no confidence' cannot be added to the agenda because there is no lawful procedure to do this.  The Chair / Mayor remains in office until the next May annual meeting or if they were to die, resign or be disqualified from holding the role if earlier. 

What may happen in some situations is that a number of councillors make their feelings clear that the Chair and/ or Vice Chair do not have the confidence of a majority of the councillors to continue in the role in private or public discussions and debates, however, it is then up to the Chair and/ or Vice Chair to decide what they want to do - they are not under any legal obligation to resign and may continue until the next Annual Meeting in May when the council get an opportunity to decide who will be the Chair and Vice Chair again.  

If the Chair decides to resign they notify the Council in writing of their decision (email is also acceptable).  A verbal resignation is not a resignation as far as the law is concerned - it must be in writing and is effective immediately on receipt even if it states they plan to resign at a later date/time.  As soon as the role of Chair is vacant if it were to be during a meeting then the Vice Chair would (if present) preside over the rest of that meeting. In the absence of the Vice Chair then the members of the parish/town council must immediately decide by resolution who will preside over the rest of that meeting. 

The 'Election of Chair' would be the first item on the agenda for the next ordinary or extraordinary meeting of the parish/town council.  If there is a Vice Chair they will preside over the election (if they are present) and if the Vice Chair is not present then the councillors must decide who among the parish/town councillors will preside over the election.  There is no presumption that the Vice Chair will automatically become the new Chair/ Mayor.  Councillors may nominate themselves including from the person presiding over the meeting.  If Standing Orders require it a seconder will also be required. The agenda item cannot be presided over by a non-councillor, the Clerk, another officer, or District of County Councillors - they have to be a member of the parish / town council.

Nominations will be taken at the meeting and a vote takes place to elect the new Chair. In the event of an equality of votes for two or more candidates then Section 15 requires that whoever is presiding over the election of the new Chair / Mayor MUST use a casting vote to elect the Chair - it cannot be left to be a stalemate.   No further business can take place without the election of a new Chair/ May because the council is not properly constituted without a Chair / Mayor as specified in Section 14 of the Act.  Once elected as Chair they must sign a Declaration of Acceptance of Office as required by law.  

A new Chair / Mayor would serve in that role until the Annual Meeting of the Council in May when the first item on the agenda MUST be the election of the new Chair and Vice Chair again.  There is no discretion to let the term continue without that election for the new Chair to sign a new Declaration of Acceptance of Office. These are requirements in law.