Council forced to rerun entire parish council election after administrative error

A report considered by full council last week said that Birchington Parish Council was improperly constituted after a paperwork mistake during the May 2023 elections, meaning that when a councillor resigned, it was not possible to determine which ward they had represented.

Birchington Parish Council is legally divided into two wards — Birchington North and Birchington South — under the Thanet (Parishes and Electoral Changes) Order.

However, during the 2023 parish elections, officers mistakenly deleted the "North" and "South" designations from the electoral system and treated the parish as a single ten-member ward.

According to the report, prepared by Thanet's chief executive and returning officer, Colin Carmichael, any such change should have been made through a community governance review. In the absence of such a process, the election breached section 16(2) and (5) of the Local Government Act 1972 and section 36 of the Representation of the People Act 1983.

The 2023 election was nonetheless deemed valid because no election petition was lodged within 21 days of the poll.

However, Thanet later acknowledged that, should a parish councillor resign, a fresh election would have to be held on the basis of the two wards.

This eventuality occurred when Cllr Marcel Pooke resigned last month (8 September).

The returning officer's report explained that the statutory steps following a parish councillor's resignation could not be taken because it was not possible to determine which ward he had resigned from. Because of this, no public notice of the vacancy could be given.

It continued: "It follows that it cannot be known therefore whether an election to fill the single casual vacancy must be held and that even if no valid requests were received, or capable of being received, it cannot be known by Birchington Parish Council to which ward it should co-opt anyone to fill the single casual vacancy.

"The Council now has no option but to look to its powers under section 39(4) of the Representation of the People Act 1983 in order to fill the casual vacancy as Parliament requires. The Council's power to 'make any appointment' under section 39(4)(a) or to hold 'such an election' i.e. a single election for a single seat, cannot help because it cannot be known for which ward any appointment or election of a single, replacement councillor, should be made or held.

"That only leaves the discretionary power under section 39(4)(a) to hold 'an election' for all seats in the ward Birchington North and an election for all the seats in the ward Birchington South."

The cost of the new election is estimated at £4,400. Half of the cost will be paid by the returning officer and half by the parish council.

Adam Carey