A Labour councillor’s bid to change the way Nantwich Mayors are appointed was scuppered – by the current Mayor’s casting vote!
Cllr John Priest put forward a motion that town mayor appointments should be shared between political groups.
This included clauses that no Mayor should be selected from the same political group in two consecutive years, and that any political group with more than a third of councillors should not be denied mayoralty for two or more years.
The current system for appointing the Mayor is based on “seniority” taking into account how long a councillor has served, regardless of their political affiliation.
But Cllr Priest cited the “changing political landscape” in Nantwich since last year’s local elections.
Nine of the 15 town councillors are now in the Labour group. Five are Independents, one is Conservative.
Cllr Priest said: “Labour group is now majority on the council and we have to recognise we have not had the Mayoralty.
“The way the Mayoralty has been distributed does not bear relation to the make up of the council.”
He also spoke out against the policy that the Mayor has “two” votes.
Currently, the Mayor can have an original vote on a particular motion/decision, and then have a casting vote in cases where the vote is equal.
Cllr Julie Karling, also Labour, said she supported the change, adding: “When the Mayor is able to sway important votes on significant decisions, it muddies the waters.”
But fellow Labour Cllr Anna Burton disagreed, and warned against making the Mayoral appointment political.
She added: “The system of seniority rewards people who have been here the longest – who has served the town and who have the most experience.
“This system is used in many other places. Moving to this proposal is complicated and could bring a lot of conflict. It does not reward longevity and experience and I would support the existing system.”
Labour Cllr Riddell Graham said there were “too many uncertainties and gaps” in the motion and proposed an amendment that the town council clerk investigate the different options available for selecting Mayors in the future and bring a report back to council.
“We need to see examples of systems used by other town and parish councils,” he added.
The vote on Cllr Graham’s amendment to the motion was 7 for and 7 against.
As a result, current Mayor Cllr Stuart Bostock (pictured) had the casting vote – and voted again for the amendment.
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