How do residents call for an election in a Parish to get new councillors in?

Question

Many residents want most of our current Parish councillors and chairman out. There are currently 6 councillors plus the chairman, who have used the parish council for their own means. How do we call for a new election to give decent, meaningful residents an opportunity to get on our parish council as quick as possible? The present council will not let any one on the council who does not fit in with their way of thinking, - even though there is 2 seats vacant.

Also,Is it normal / legal for the current PC. to interview people who have applied to be on the council? I have been told (by the chairman of the Standards Committee) that if there are empty seats, you complete the application form in and then you are automatically a councillor.  ???

Answer 1

It is almost impossible to get rid of a sitting councillor, unless you can find some legal reason to unseat him/her. (Have they moved out of the parish or had a jail sentence imposed on them for example).
The district monitoring officer has virtually no teeth these days.

I would suggest looking ahead to the May elections and plan a strategy around that. Get some like minded residents who are willing to stand at the next election. (In our parish that's hard to do - hardly anyone sensible wants to join!) Prepare a campaign and publicise widely. Attend council meetings regularly. Ensure you know the rules about standing for election. Learn as much as you can about how councils are supposed to be run.

I wish you luck.

Comments

Thank you for your prompt answer. We thought and were hoping that if we sent a letter of "no confidence" with at least 10 signatures, we could have an election. But I believe that just gives them a jolt.

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I think the 10 signatures you are referring to is asking for an election when there is a Casual Vacancy. There is a limited time window to do that - so watch out for notices on the official notice boards and websites.
Note the 10 signature need to be resident in the parish and registered to vote. I always collected 12 - 15 signatures to cover that eventuality.
A vote of no confidence may administer a jolt but perhaps a few more that 10 signature would be needed I suspect.