Motion of no confidence in a chair of a parish council

Question

I have asked a similar question before but I need some clarification.  If someone tables a motion of no confidence in the Chair of a Parish Council and it is lost, are there any repercussions against the individual(s) who tabled it?

Answer 1

No. (Legally), but remember the motion would have no legal effect were it to pass either, there might be a moral duty to resign, but no legal duty to resign or power to remove the chair.

Even if the motion is defeated, depending the background to the motion, it will probably annoy the Chair (in their personal capacity).

Comments

The whole point in bringing such a motion is to highlight and record that members of the council do not have confidence that the Chair is doing their job properly.Now whether it fails or succeeds is actually immaterial in that as already stated there is no obligation for the chair to step down. The motion will highlight and record also the reaction of the chair for future reference in combating petty squabbles. Too often differences and shortcomings are not aired properly and it is essential for them to be brought to the fore and resolved.

Answer 2

Bearing in mind the fact that, in tabling a motion of no confidence, you know that it does not remove the Chair, but you expect him or her to do the decent thing and fall on their sword, if the motion is lost, should you not apply the same logic to the person who tabled it? What's good for the goose...

Answer 3

I'd be interested to know what the chair has done that has brought the vote of no confidence forward as I've often found that members don't really understand the role of chair. A chair has no more powers than any other fellow member and the main duty of the role is to manage meeting in accordance with the council's standing orders.

Comments

In reality, neither do I.  I am chair of a small rural PC and often it feels that managing the expectations of the more assertive members takes a front line role.  I see my job/role exactly how you explained it yet it sometimes feels that there is a gap between the two factions. Tonight, for example we were discussing a problematic Planning Application and it was obvious that two councillors wanted to 'rule the roost' and didn't hold back in their criticism of the rest of the council.  This is where the 'no confidence' comes from, I can accomodate their views but it isn't reciprocated, they want to 'take over' the council.  If they felt that the way to get 'rid' of me was a vote of confidence, they would press for it.  Perhaps I'm like Marvin the paranoid Android ...

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I don't think you are paranoid but I think you'd benefit from some chairs training at your local association of parish councils.  It will help strengthen your position and you'll deal better with the poor behaviour of some of your members.  It wouldn't hurt for you to have a word with your monitoring officer too just to put on record what is going on.
Just to be clear, there is nothing wrong with members voicing their strong opinions but that should not involve the criticism of fellow members. The standard of behaviour that you should expect from your members is set down in your council's code of conduct.