Agenda item

Special Meeting of the Court of Aldermen – 8 November 2024

An Alderwoman referred to notice of a special meeting of the Court of Aldermen to be held ahead of the Silent Ceremony on 8 November 2024 which had recently been received by all. She queried why the business to be transacted here could not be dealt with today or at the early December meeting.

The Town Clerk clarified that under Aldermanic Standing Orders, it was the Lord Mayor’s prerogative to call additional meetings of the Court of Aldermen where there was sufficient business to transact. On this occasion, that business would involve the receipt of letters of resignation and, conscious of the workload of the Electoral Services Team in the lead up to the all-out March Common Council elections, it had been deemed a better use of resources for letters to be submitted in November. The Silent Ceremony was also the occasion on which the Lord Mayor stepped down and he had deemed it preferable to submit his letter of resignation at this juncture as opposed to today when he still had a month in office remaining.

The Alderwoman remarked that in terms of timetabling, it appeared that many Aldermanic elections seemed to be called around the Christmas and Summer Recess period which could translate to a lower turnout of voters. She therefore queried whether consideration should be given to fixing election dates for Aldermen going forward.  The Chairman responded to underline that Aldermen were effectively elected for life and surrendered office by convention at the age of 75 or after having served six-year terms. Historically, therefore, it had been left to individuals to choose the timing of the submission of their letters of resignation within these parameters. The Comptroller and City Solicitor reiterated that Aldermen were elected for life as a matter of law and that neither this Court nor the Court of Common Council therefore had the power to fix the electoral period, they could agree conventions (and these could be altered) but they remained just that.