Statement about motion to bring about a vote for Council Leader
15th May 2017 

Until fairly recently Hart District Council had a democratic process of electing the council Leader every year at the AGM. This right was taken away by the then Conservative administration, presumably because they realised that as is the case now there would be times when they did not have a majority on the council.

The Conservatives forced through the instigation of a 4 year term for the council Leader, the maximum period they could have gone for without falling foul of legislation.

Out of 33 councillors there are 14 Conservative, 10 Community Campaign, 8 Lib Dems and 1 Hook Independent. No one party have the 17 councillors required to hold a majority on the council.

The Community Campaign have asked the current Leader if he’d be willing to continue as Leader with a proportional Cabinet made up of 3 Conservatives, 2 Lib Dems and 2 Community Campaign members. Given the proportionality of such a Cabinet it does not seem to be an unreasonable request.

We await his response. However, should the Conservatives not wish to work with a cross party partnership then we believe that the Council should have the right to elect a new Leader.

The nature of the council’s constitution is such that in order to bring about the opportunity to elect a new Leader a motion to withdraw support for the current leadership needs to be lodged 7 clear working days before the council’s AGM.
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The full motion moved by Cllr. James Radley of the Community Campaign reads;
The council wishes to use this AGM, as it represents the traditional point in the municipal year, to undertake a vote for the leader of council. To bring about such a vote the constitution requires that a vote to remove the current leader first be tabled. To this end this council retracts support for the current leader and does so as required by the constitution by voting to 'remove from office the current Leader of the Council and agrees that a new Leader should be elected forthwith'.

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Welcome to the official website of the Community Campaign (Hart). Here you can find out more about us and what we have been doing to support the local quality of life and environment in Hart District, North East Hampshire.

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Common sense solutions for local issues
Without party political pressures, your ten Community Campaign Councillors have made a positive impact across Hart District by always being able to do what they feel is right, rather than having to tow a party political line. We consider alternative ideas with an open mind and readily challenge what others claim to be inevitable.

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If you are new to the area and wish to get a full flavour of what the Community Campaign councillors have been doing since first elected in 2004, please review our on-line Newsletter archive or contact us to discuss any local issues.

This is what the CCH stands for:
We have no political dogma. We simply want to fairly and effectively represent local people.

• We are free from party politics so are free to exercise our best judgement, on all issues. We can approach each issue with an open mind.
• We believe that best results are achieved by people working together, by looking for the best way forward and by being open to good ideas.
• We are prepared to challenge when necessary.
• Above all else, we want to do this because we care about the local community and environment.

Your 10 Hart District Councillors, and County Councillor John Bennison. Left to right: James, Chris, Gill, John, Jenny, Tony, Wendy, Simon, Richard, Alan & Sara