At last night’s full council meeting, members considered, debated and voted on a motion put forward by Labour councillor Geoff Lumley for future votes at full council to be named votes.
Cllr Lumley had called for the change in constitution for the furtherance of transparency and accountability. After presenting his motion the floor was opened for debate.
Barry: “It’s ridiculous”
Liberal Democrat Cllr Barry said he didn’t see the need for it, citing the current procedural rule that allows for named votes if four councillors request it.
“It’s ridiculous,” he said.
Hollis: “We are not a police state”
Conservative Cllr Hollis said that members should be able to debate in a free and easy way and that we “are not a police state”. Not having to be named on every occasion councillors vote on, is a freedom he said, adding he could not see any reason why the system needed to be changed.
He said it was like the ‘union bully boys’ wanting to control everyone.
Amendment avoids confusion
Independent Cllr Baker Smith asked for an amendment to the wording to ensure that the named votes referred simply to those taken in full council meetings, adding it should be up to each individual committee as to whether they wanted to adopt the same ruling.
This amendment was accepted by Cllr Lumley.
Named vote for named vote motion
Cllr Lumley asked for the vote to be named.
Fifteen members voted against the motion, one member abstained and 21 voted in favour.
| For | Against | Abstained |
| Bacon (Ind) | Kendall (Ind) | Perks (UKIP) |
| Baker Smith (Ind) | Peacey-Wilcox (Ind) | |
| Blezzard (Ind) | Richards (Ind) | |
| Downer (Ind) | Bertie (Con) | |
| Fuller (Ind) | Eccles (Con) | |
| Gilbey (Ind) | Gauntlett (Con) | |
| Hillard (Ind) | Hobart (Con) | |
| Howe (Ind) | Hollis (Con) | |
| Jordan (Ind) | Hutchinson (Con) | |
| Medland (Ind) | Jones-Evans (Con) | |
| Priest (Ind) | Nicholson (Con) | |
| Smart (Ind) | Seely (Con) | |
| Stubbings (Ind) | Stewart (Con) | |
| Warlow (Ind) | Whitehouse (Con) | |
| Whitby-Smith (Ind) | Barry (LibDem) | |
| Price (Con) | ||
| Pitcher (UKIP) | ||
| Hollands (Lab) | ||
| Chapman (Ind) | ||
| Lumley (Lab) | ||
| Stephens (Ind) |
The motion was carried and used for the following items on the agenda.
