A statutory order has come into effect which will means the upcoming elections for Weymouth and Portland Borough Council have been cancelled.
One third of seats were due for election in May 2018 but were postponed due to the recent Local Government Reorganisation decision. This will be overtaken by the structural change order when Weymouth & Portland Borough Council is dissolved on 1 April 2019.
Cllr Jeff Cant, Leader of Weymouth & Portland Borough Council, said:
“This Structural Change Order will establish the transition from existing councils to a new authority for the Dorset area and will set out the election cycle. Members of the Dorset Area Joint Committee have agreed in principle to adopt the same election cycle as the other large predominately rural unitary councils in England with the first elections for the new ‘Dorset Council’ scheduled for May 2019.”
The change will see councillors for the new council serve for two 5-year terms. It is proposed for all town and parish councils within the Dorset area to be in harmony with this. The new ‘Dorset Council’ will consist of 82 Members.
By-Election to take place
A notice of election has now been published for Weymouth the Weymouth West by-election. The by-election is taking place following the resignation of Claudia Moore, who has taken up a new role as Chief Operations Officer for the Weymouth BID.
