Question

If a councillor should resign - is there a waiting period before reapplication?

Reason, for the question, a councillor has rejoined after 5 months.

Answer 1

I don't think there is a waiting period.  It is not stipulated in the criteria for seeking office which is to:

• be a UK or Commonwealth citizen; or
• be a citizen of the Republic of Ireland; or
• be a citizen of another Member state of the European Union; and
• be at least 18 years old.
• To be eligible to stand for an election for a particular parish, you must:
• be an elector of the parish; or
• in the past 12 months have occupied (as owner or tenant) land or other premises in the parish; or
• work in the parish (as your principal or only place of work); or
• live within three miles of the parish boundary.

Answer 2

There is no waiting period. A councillor may resign then be nominated to fill his or her own vacancy or for subsequent co-option if no election is called.

Comments

Two excellent responses.... I wonder ??   I recently went through a similar experience. After many years of engaging with my PC (if that's the right word as most of the time they don't actually  reply) I decided to become a Councillor .  I resigned after about 10 days after clashes with the clerk who was trying to set policy . Several locals then decided to apply for co-option and expressed their disappointment that I had resigned. We then hatched a plan after consulting with this board to apply for my own casual vacancy.  To my surprise 40 local electors supported my application and I went through the advertised process.  Meanwhile at the next meeting I attended as a resident to be faced with the Council's proposal to set a "Habitual and vexatious complaints policy".  Unfortunately,  the day before it was announced I was elected unopposed . You could have cut the atmosphere with a knife.  A couple of Councillors approached  me trying to understand what had gone on and asked me why I had not advertised what I was doing.   I explained that I had no need to as it was all there to be seen on the District Council's web site.   My actions  were then publicly branded as "underhand" .  Oh what fun it is being a Councillor

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I am aware of another situation with exactly the same result but think about this for one moment.  If a full election was held (and your description implies that to be the case), you've now cost your parish a considerable sum in election costs.

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Sorry Delboy you are wrong "Elected unopposed" means that no election was held as there were insufficient candidates

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Congrats on being re-elected.
I went through a similar process which did lead to a full election. The council had no budget for this - so were caught on the back foot. The very act of having an election to fill a casual vacancy was a huge wakeup call to the council and eventually made a difference in the way it was run. So whilst it cost the parishioners at the time, it has to be remembered that democracy is not cheap, in blood or money.

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Unless your county council is remarkably generous, once an election is called (even if no actual poll takes place) there are costs incurred by the parish

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My district council charges about £200 for this.

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I agree with you. An election is always the democratic (ie open, honest, unbiased and transparent) solution to a casual vacancy where several electors put forward their names for consideration. An election, whatever it costs, allows the community to vote in the person they consider to be the best candidate for the role, rather than the council making the choice on their behalf, with all the problems that might entail. Councils are advised that they should ensure they have enough funds to cover the cost of an election in their annual budgets.

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I was unaware that a charge could be made but £200 in a precept of £200k is not that much. The problem is that I doubt that my PC will seek to understand what I did and why but will concentrate on stating "look what you have cost the public purse".  The facts are that I joined to be provide to a challenge to the existing regime.  I immediately challenged a locum clerk who was setting policy and firmly explained that was not her role.  I asked for the item to be put on the next agenda. This was not accepted. In stead the clerk threatened to leave and black list our PC unless I desisted and stopped challenging her .  No other Councillors dared comment and the Chairman threatened me with the Conduct Code, so I went.  This and other things then persuaded 3 new Cllrs to apply to be  co-opted. So I am no longer a lone voice.  My re-election was just a bonus and I have absolutely no qualms about what I did and how I did it.   The fact that PC did not see it coming is not my fault

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Well done open spaces for shaking that apathy that surrounds many bad councils from the electorates point of view. There ar epeople in communities who have a good understanding of right and wrong who have the facts withheld from them for just that reason. Good to see that the awakening has added power to your crusade which should eventually result in a council that follows the communities needs not the councillors self centred interpretation.
Hang in there!

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Congratulations Openspaces and welcome back!