Agenda item

10.1

The Lord Mayor (Councillor Colin Ross) sought nominations for the position of Leader of the Council for the Municipal Year 2023-24.

10.2

Councillor Sioned-Mair Richards nominated Councillor Tom Hunt to serve as Leader of the Council.  That nomination was seconded by Councillor Paul Wood.  Councillor Hunt was deemed to be Candidate 1.

10.3

Councillor Joe Otten nominated Councillor Shaffaq Mohammed to serve as Leader of the Council.  That nomination was seconded by Councillor Sue Alston.  Councillor Mohammed was deemed to be Candidate 2.

10.4

Councillor Angela Argenzio nominated Councillor Douglas Johnson to serve as Leader of the Council.  That nomination was seconded by Councillor Martin Phipps.  Councillor Johnson was deemed to be Candidate 3.

10.5

The nomination of Candidate 1 (Councillor Tom Hunt) was put to the vote and was lost.  The result of the vote was FOR - 38 Members; AGAINST - 42 Members; ABSTENTIONS – 0 Members.

10.6

The nomination of Candidate 2 (Councillor Shaffaq Mohammed) was then put to the vote and was also lost.  The result of the vote was FOR - 28 Members; AGAINST - 52 Members; ABSTENTIONS – 0 Members.

10.7

The nomination of Candidate 3 (Councillor Douglas Johnson) was then put to the vote and was also lost.  The result of the vote was FOR - 13 Members; AGAINST - 67 Members; ABSTENTIONS – 0 Members.

10.8

The Lord Mayor stated that, as none of the candidates received more votes ‘for’ than they did votes ‘against’, a Leader of the Council had not been appointed during that stage of voting.  Accordingly, he would now move to the next stage of the voting process, whereby the candidate who received the lowest number of votes ‘for’ would be eliminated and one final vote would be held where Members of the Council would choose between the remaining two candidates.

10.9

The Lord Mayor confirmed that Candidate 3 (Councillor Douglas Johnson) had received the lowest number of votes ‘for’ and was therefore eliminated.  Members of the Council would now vote to choose between Candidate 1 (Councillor Tom Hunt) and Candidate 2 (Councillor Shaffaq Mohammed) and the candidate that receives the higher number of votes will be appointed to the position of Leader of the Council.

10.10

On being put to the vote, the result was that Candidate 1 received 38 votes; Candidate 2 received 28 votes; and 14 Members abstained from voting.

10.11

The Lord Mayor stated that Candidate 1 (Councillor Tom Hunt) had received the most votes and therefore, it was:-

RESOLVED: That Councillor Tom Hunt be appointed Leader of the Council for the Municipal Year 2023-24, serving until the date of the next Annual Meeting of the Council in 2024.