Agenda item

8.1

The Lord Mayor (Councillor Jayne Dunn) sought nominations for the position of Leader of the Council for the Municipal Year 2024-25.

8.2

Councillor Mary Lea nominated Councillor Tom Hunt to serve as Leader of the Council.  That nomination was seconded by Councillor Ruth Milsom.  Councillor Hunt was deemed to be Candidate 1.

8.3

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.

8.4

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

8.5

A vote was held, with Members of the Council choosing to vote for either Candidate 1 (Councillor Tom Hunt) or Candidate 2 (Councillor Shaffaq Mohammed) or Candidate 3 (Councillor Douglas Johnson).  Any Member present at the meeting who did not vote for one of the three Candidates was deemed to have abstained from voting.  On being put to the vote, the result was that Candidate 1 received 35 votes; Candidate 2 received 30 votes; and Candidate 3 received 14 votes.  There were no abstentions.

8.6

The Lord Mayor reported that, as there was not a majority of votes in favour of one candidate, a Leader of the Council had not been appointed during that stage of voting.  Accordingly, she 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 and the candidate that receives the higher number of votes will be appointed to the position of Leader of the Council.

8.7

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 any Member present at the meeting who did not vote for one of the two Candidates was deemed to have abstained from voting.

8.8

On being put to the vote, the result was that Candidate 1 received 35 votes; Candidate 2 received 30 votes; and 14 Members abstained from voting.

8.9

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 2024-25, serving until the date of the next Annual Meeting of the Council in 2025.