MR. RAYMOND GREENE (Cambridge, Chesterton)To ask the President of the Local Government Board whether it is in accordance with the Regulations of the Board that the Chairman of a Parish Council should preside as chairman both at the annual parish meeting, and also at the annual meeting of the Parish Council, he, himself, being a candidate for the Chairmanship of the Council for the ensuing year.
(Answer.) The regulations of the Local Government Board do not deal with these questions. The Chairman of a Parish Council, if a parochial elector, is entitled under the Local Government Act to preside at the annual parish meeting unless he is a candidate for election as parish councillor at such meeting. The other question is not one which I have any authority to determine; it can only be decided by a court of law. I am, however, clearly of opinion that the retiring Chairman of a Parish Council ought not to preside at the annual meeting of the Council during the election of Chairman for the ensuing year, if he, himself, is a candidate for this office.—(Local Government Board.).