To watch the Co-option live, join our YouTube Channel at 7pm on Monday 21st July.
Buckingham Town Council will choose a new Councillor in the Council’s first online vote to fill a Councillor’s seat on Monday night. The vacancy arose following the sad death of Derrick Isham earlier this year. It is not permitted to hold a full election due to Covid-19 restrictions on public ballots. The Town Council are therefore going to co-opt a new Councillor during their online meeting to be held on Monday 13th July from 7pm.
An unprecedented 7 local people have applied for the role. Each candidate has provided a written statement, and will be able to speak for up to two minutes, after which Councillors will question the candidates.
How the voting works:
- The Mayor will place the names of candidates in alphabetical order and proceed to vote.
- A successful candidate must have received an absolute majority vote by those Councillors present.
- If after the first vote no candidate has a majority of votes, the candidate(s) with the least votes will be withdrawn, and a second vote taken of the remaining candidates. This may be repeated several times until one candidate receives a majority of votes.
- The Chair (Town Mayor) has the casting vote.
Successfully co-opted candidates become Councillors in their own right, with immediate effect, and are no different to any other member, except that they are not eligible to receive an annual allowance, having not been elected by public ballot. The co-opted member will be asked to sign a Declaration of Acceptance of Office either before or at the next meeting, to agree to be bound by the Council’s adopted Code of Conduct. They may then be appointed to a committee and as a representative to local organisations. A full election for all 17 Town Council seats will take place in May 2021.