Cornwall Council has notified us that it has received a request from 10 electors in Wadebridge West ward for an election to fill the vacancy arising from the non-attendance of Darren Stawski. The election will take place on Thursday 26 November.
For those unfamiliar with the process: when a seat becomes vacant mid-term, we must publish a notice of the vacancy. Any 10 electors registered in the Parish then have 14 working days to ask Cornwall Council’s Returning Officer to hold an election. If they do, an election must take place. If no request is made, we can fill the seat by co-option instead.
The two routes work differently:
• Co-option: Anyone eligible can apply, and councillors choose the new member by vote at a Town Council meeting. There is no cost to the Council.
• Election: Candidates stand for the seat, and residents of the ward vote at a polling station or by post. Cornwall Council runs the election and the Town Council pays for it. The last election cost the Council approx. £2.5K.
We also have two further vacancies to be filled by co-option. At our last co-option when we had 3 vacancies to be filled, one application was received and one councillor appointed.
We therefore now have 3 vacancies – 2 to be filled by co-option and 1 to be filled by election
