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Post by phil156 on Nov 3, 2024 6:31:46 GMT
I'm just a bit puzzled. Hertfordshire and Essex have vacancies. Has the 6-month rule now kicked in, as it's May 1st? Essex has put up a notice of casual vacancy with no deadline. Can anyone please clarify or can you still have by-elections on less then 6 months to go
Cheers for the info
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Post by carolus on Nov 3, 2024 7:53:01 GMT
The ordinary day of the 2025 local elections are on 1 May 2025, so the old councillors go out of office and the newly elected councillors come in on the fourth day after (LGA 1972 s. 7(1)) so on 5 May 2025. A byelection may not be held if a casual vacancy occurs "within six months before the day on which the councillor whose office is vacant would regularly have retired" (LGA 1972 s. 89(3)) so any vacancy occurring on 5 November 2024 or thereafter will not result in a byelection. see above from David. So I think it is unambiguous that both Essex and Herts have occurred before the cutoff. However, as we've seen many times before there is often a remarkable coincidence whereby vacancies happen to only be declared by the council just after the deadline, or even if it is announced before then no requests are received until sufficiently close to the actual day of elections that the byelection still doesn't actually happen. So I think we have entered the zone of uncertainty with both, and will see what happens. I suppose with the Essex one there is also a District vacancy that isn't affected by the six month rule, so if that gets held we might see the county one at the same time. |
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Post by andrewteale on Nov 3, 2024 7:56:24 GMT
I'm just a bit puzzled. Hertfordshire and Essex have vacancies. Has the 6-month rule now kicked in, as it's May 1st? Essex has put up a notice of casual vacancy with no deadline. Can anyone please clarify or can you still have by-elections on less then 6 months to go Cheers for the info The six-month rule is counted back from the date the newly elected councillors take office. That will be either Monday 5th or Tuesday 6th May 2025 - I'm not sure how the May bank holiday affects things. Vacancies which occur before the six-month rule kicks in can have by-elections called at any time up to the end of the term. |
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Post by Pete Whitehead on Nov 3, 2024 7:57:14 GMT
The ordinary day of the 2025 local elections are on 1 May 2025, so the old councillors go out of office and the newly elected councillors come in on the fourth day after (LGA 1972 s. 7(1)) so on 5 May 2025. A byelection may not be held if a casual vacancy occurs "within six months before the day on which the councillor whose office is vacant would regularly have retired" (LGA 1972 s. 89(3)) so any vacancy occurring on 5 November 2024 or thereafter will not result in a byelection. see above from David. So I think it is unambiguous that both Essex and Herts have occurred before the cutoff. However, as we've seen many times before there is often a remarkable coincidence whereby vacancies happen to only be declared by the council just after the deadline, or even if it is announced before then no requests are received until sufficiently close to the actual day of elections that the byelection still doesn't actually happen. So I think we have entered the zone of uncertainty with both, and will see what happens. I suppose with the Essex one there is also a District vacancy that isn't affected by the six month rule, so if that gets held we might see the county one at the same time. Is this one of these situations where if two (or whatever the number is) local electors request an election be held then they have to hold one? |
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Post by Devil Wincarnate on Nov 3, 2024 9:15:15 GMT
I care. I have an enquiring mind. Tell me about Brian Potter. Potter is one of the great impresarios of his generation and fought through adversity to build and then rebuild a cultural empire covering the planet - well, Bolton. www.imdb.com/title/tt0273379/ He had a run-in with noted coroner Mixu Paatalainen. |
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Post by carolus on Nov 3, 2024 9:31:23 GMT
phil156 see above from David. So I think it is unambiguous that both Essex and Herts have occurred before the cutoff. However, as we've seen many times before there is often a remarkable coincidence whereby vacancies happen to only be declared by the council just after the deadline, or even if it is announced before then no requests are received until sufficiently close to the actual day of elections that the byelection still doesn't actually happen. So I think we have entered the zone of uncertainty with both, and will see what happens. I suppose with the Essex one there is also a District vacancy that isn't affected by the six month rule, so if that gets held we might see the county one at the same time. Is this one of these situations where if two (or whatever the number is) local electors request an election be held then they have to hold one? For Essex, yes, they've published the notice of vacancy. Though I can't help but suspect that some councils have ways of discouraging it. For Herts it will probably depend when they publish the notice of vacancy - I'm pretty sure the legislation for the six month rule is six months from the vacancy arising which in this case I think is the date of death, though again some councils seem to treat it as date they were notified, or even date they publish the notice of vacancy. I should note that I don't have any direct reason to think either Essex or Herts will play particular games around the six months, we've just seen it with various councils before. |
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Post by phil156 on Nov 3, 2024 9:50:30 GMT
Thankyou ever so much for clarifying the 6 month rule cheers much appreciated
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Tony Otim
Green
Suffering from Brexistential Despair
Posts: 11,892
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Post by Tony Otim on Nov 3, 2024 9:53:22 GMT
How often are elections requested by electors who are not also party activists? We have a different system up here, but my impression is not very often and there's probably less motivation for another election at the moment. So it might well come down to if any of the local parties see a particular advantage to having these before the May elections.
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Post by listener on Nov 3, 2024 20:56:21 GMT
The Local Government Act 1972 s.87 makes it clear that the date on which the vacancy is to be deemed to have occurred is the date of receipt of the notice of resignation or the date of death. Check the legislation for the full details, also covering disqualification and non-acceptance of office.
The Returning Officer cannot try to manipulate the election date by delaying the publication of the Notice of Vacancy. The law is very clear that the date the vacancy has occurred is fixed and that the election must be called by two local electors and no-one else.
The Act requires public notice of a vacancy to be given by the local authority "as soon as practicable" after the vacancy is deemed to have occurred. This applies to any vacancy, whether or not the 6-month rule is in play, although some authorities don't bother, once the 6-month rule has taken effect.
A few anecdotes, going back a number of years:
On one occasion it appeared that a county by-election was being delayed until the May district elections, maybe to save money and for convenience of campaigning. My wife and I called the election, although living at the opposite end of the county, and the by-election was held in March.
On another occasion it was reported that a vacancy had occurred on the edge of the 6-month rule kicking in, but the Notice of Vacancy did not appear. I wrote to the Returning Officer asking for a copy of the resignation letter. It was sent to me and was dated a day too early, because of the extra bank holiday called for the Coronation. By this time, a Notice of Vacancy had appeared on the website and someone else (not me) called the by-election.
Another time, I was watching out before Christmas for a forthcoming by-election to be called and David Boothroyd commented on this website that another party (not his) was planning for the by-election to take place in the Spring. The delay was somewhat annoying, so my wife and I called the election and it took place in January.
A few years ago there was a vacancy in Wales which lay dormant for some time. I wrote to the Returning Officer requesting a copy of the Notice of Vacancy and received the following reply in early July, "Due to the sensitivity of the vacancy a decision has been made by the Returning Officer that the Notices of Election will be publicised for the Council By-election in early September." I could have made a fuss, but I chose to let it drop. The by-election was held eventually.
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Post by doktorb🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️ on Nov 4, 2024 21:28:53 GMT
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john07
Labour & Co-operative
Posts: 15,774 
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Post by john07 on Nov 5, 2024 1:23:05 GMT
Potter is one of the great impresarios of his generation and fought through adversity to build and then rebuild a cultural empire covering the planet - well, Bolton. www.imdb.com/title/tt0273379/ He had a run-in with noted coroner Mixu Paatalainen. The old Hibs song went: Mixu Patalainen, What a fucking signing! |
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Post by No Offence Alan on Nov 5, 2024 8:55:01 GMT
He had a run-in with noted coroner Mixu Paatalainen. The old Hibs song went: Mixu Patalainen, What a fucking signing! Also the punchline to the joke - "Name 3 footballers whose names are associated with gambling." Jim Bett Campbell Money Mixu Patalainen |
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Post by gibbon on Nov 5, 2024 10:40:30 GMT
How often are elections requested by electors who are not also party activists? We have a different system up here, but my impression is not very often and there's probably less motivation for another election at the moment. So it might well come down to if any of the local parties see a particular advantage to having these before the May elections. I think that the only time in happened in Leeds was in 1999. |
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Post by listener on Nov 5, 2024 19:17:12 GMT
Further to Middleenglander's recent posts on the weekly threads about the impact of Reform UK on local by-elections, I thought it would be interesting to look at the number of candidates they have been fielding since the General Election. They are gradually working toward a full set of candidates
July - 0 candidates for 4 seats
August - 3 candidates for 9 seats
September - 15 candidates for 40 seats
October - 21 candidates for 61 seats
November - 31 candidates for 46 seats
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Post by carolus on Nov 5, 2024 22:36:58 GMT
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Crimson King
Lib Dem
Be nice to each other and sing in tune
Posts: 9,842
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Post by Crimson King on Nov 5, 2024 22:42:09 GMT
If only there was a sizable Turkish expat community in Dodworth |
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Post by michaelarden on Nov 5, 2024 22:45:04 GMT
Christmas byelection to elect councillor Christmas replacement. |
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Post by carolus on Nov 6, 2024 9:20:29 GMT
Is this one of these situations where if two (or whatever the number is) local electors request an election be held then they have to hold one? For Essex, yes, they've published the notice of vacancy. Though I can't help but suspect that some councils have ways of discouraging it. For Herts it will probably depend when they publish the notice of vacancy - I'm pretty sure the legislation for the six month rule is six months from the vacancy arising which in this case I think is the date of death, though again some councils seem to treat it as date they were notified, or even date they publish the notice of vacancy. I should note that I don't have any direct reason to think either Essex or Herts will play particular games around the six months, we've just seen it with various councils before. And indeed the Essex (and Chelmsford) vacancies have been called for 12 December. Nothing that I can see from Herts. |
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Post by Davıd Boothroyd on Nov 6, 2024 9:23:58 GMT
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Post by Rutlander on Nov 6, 2024 15:07:45 GMT
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