NO BY-ELECTION. CO-OPTING EXPLAINED

We just saved tens of thousands of pounds. How? All political parties and individual electors in Shirebrook chose not to call a by-election. Some people are unhappy about that. Me? I’ll go with the flow — it’s just another move in the political games around STC.

The fact is: we dodged a bullet. Not holding by-elections saved us, the taxpayers, tens of thousands of pounds. More than that, it created a chance for anyone to apply for a council seat — without the money usually needed for leaflets, street campaigning, Facebook ads, and all that circus. As I’ll show later, even with strict spending limits set in national law, running a campaign is still an extremely costly process for candidates.

So, don’t be sad that no one stood up, printed the forms, and collected the required signatures. Don’t blame yourself if you were one of those who demanded an election on Facebook, but did nothing beyond posting a few sentences. Democracy is not built on words alone — it survives only when words are followed by action. And by-election or not, there will be action. It’s called “co-option procedure”.

FIRST TIME EVER!
Because no by-election was called, for the first time in my living memory, there will be a co-option procedure at STC. It seems the council wasn’t prepared for this — no procedure in the STC Standing Orders explains how co-option should be carried out. To be on the safe side, I’ve already sent a letter expressing my interest in standing for co-option.

I may have jumped the gun slightly. Typically, an official announcement must be posted on the Town Council’s website, outlining the requirements, procedure, and deadlines. The problem is, I’ve had bad experiences before with “documents published on the town website.” To ensure that my expression of interest was recorded, I sent my letter by recorded delivery. Of course, I’ll follow the formal rules STC announces, if and when they are published.

WHAT IS THE CO-OPT PROCEDURE
On the surface, it’s simple: if there’s a vacant seat on the council and no by-election is called, the council may (but does not have to) fill it by co-opting a candidate. I went down the rabbit hole of this process, digging through STC Standing Orders, the Local Government Act 1972, the Representation of the People Act 1983, and a few other bits of legislation. From there, I moved on to NALC guidance and ended up at DALC. Here’s what I learned:

• The council should provide a clear method for applying (form, email, or hard copy), with a deadline, contact point, and details of what information is required (eligibility, statement, endorsements).
• The council may ask for written statements, CVs, or interviews (public or private), and can use a person specification. All candidates must be treated equally.
• Only the full council — not a committee or an officer — can make the decision to co-opt.
• Voting is typically conducted by a show of hands or a secret ballot. If there are more candidates than vacancies, an elimination or a majority vote method is used.
• A co-opted councillor must then sign the declaration of acceptance of office, complete the register of interests, and the clerk will notify the electoral/returning officer or the district council as required.

IT’S HARDER THAN YOU THINK
Do you know what the funniest part of this procedure is? The requirements for co-option are often stricter for candidates than they are for standing in a regular election.

To run in an election, you only need to meet three basic conditions:

1. Be at least 18 years old.
2. Be a British citizen, an eligible Commonwealth citizen, or a citizen of an EU country.
3. Have lived or worked in the area for at least 12 months.

If you tick those boxes, complete the candidate paperwork, and gather the necessary supporting signatures, you’re good to go. That’s it. But if you want to be co-opted, you might be additionally asked for a CV, references, or even to sit through an interview — and then you still need to win the support of sitting councillors in a vote. It will be less work-intensive, cheaper for the town and the candidates, but it won’t be easy.

Now that we know what co-option is, let’s go back to the most pressing question: why, oh why, did no one trigger a by-election?

YES, YOU CAN!
Yes — if you’re eligible to vote and live in Shirebrook, you could have triggered a by-election. There are around 7000 people with voting rights in Shirebrook- every single one of us could pull the trigger. I’m glad no one did. It would be a costly shot.

However, remember this for the future: you can also play political games. This time you chose not to. While residents may forgive other residents for their inaction, we should all ask ourselves why the political parties — every single one of them — decided to do… nothing. Labour, Conservatives, Lib Dems, Reform, Greens, TUC, Cooperative, and all the rest did nothing to trigger a by-election.

Residents should be asking: why? I could list a dozen possible explanations, but I’ll just give a few — starting with…

POLITICAL GAMES OF BIG PARTIES
The leadership of every single main political party knows that Shirebrook is teetering on a metaphorical cliff edge, and that many things swept under the carpet during decades of Labour rule will soon come to light. Those buried scandals could tip the town over that metaphorical edge.

That’s why all “big boys” didn’t want to expose themselves to criticism of triggering elections that we can’t afford. It showed local political class maturity. Shirebrook is famously inactive. In 2019, there was one opposition to the Labour candidate. ONE! Against 16 of Labour. In 2023 local elections- five! Five opposition candidates versus a complete set of 16 candidates from Labour. The bottom line is this: we were regarded as a lost cause. Now? With that financial storm on the horizon? We are the toxic children of the District. Just look at another tax comparison example:

IF IN DOUBT, FOLLOW THE MONEY
From informal conversations with politically active people in the region, one theme keeps recurring: money — or rather, the lack thereof. STC has reportedly (wink-wink) spent heavily on staff pay rises, wood pellets, fines for not burning those pellets, solar panels, and a long list of other controversies.

If anyone knows “what’s really going on behind the scenes,” it’s the people running political parties in this region. And perhaps that’s why none of the leaders pushed their members to trigger the by-election. It’s just one hypothesis, but it fits as well as any other.

MONEY AGAIN
Some of my readers expected me to be the one to trigger the by-election — I have a bit of a reputation for that. But I had the same argument as the political parties, only doubled. First: I know STC can’t afford an election. Second: if I had stood as a candidate, the personal cost would have been at least £1,200. I’d rather spend that money on an audit of the Leisure Centre or an election in 2027.

So I decided to give others the chance to gather signatures and then run, but only if someone else pulls the by-election trigger. I was 99% sure someone would. Yet again, Shirebrook surprised me. When nobody did, I decided to be the first to apply for a seat through co-option. Paperwork already sent- that’s the action and style I represent. Strike the metal while it’s hot- it’s a winning strategy.

CLOSING STATEMENT
When I stand before councillors at the co-opt meeting, I will do so as a person who has already served on STC, and I can bet there won’t be many candidates with that experience on their CV. I was alone against 15 councillors with decades-long political knowledge, and I managed to hold my ground to the very last cancelled (by Chris Kane and Town Clerk) meeting.

I bring experience. But what else can I offer STC and residents? I’ve been a regular observer at STC meetings, before and after my term of office. I also visited several other councils to see how they run things. I’ve stood in three elections since 2019, and I won once- that is not a good record, but at least it shows consistency. That shows I’m not a random passer-by, but a resident who cares and is actively engaged in matters of the town. When I was a councillor, I had 100% attendance at meetings (excluding one that I wasn’t invited to, which in itself is evidence of how broken the procedures were in STC under the previous administration).

I’m not saying I’m the best candidate, but I bring experience, a strong work ethic, and a genuine passion for the role. I’ve been battle-tested in the field, and I’m ready to step up again. I can’t wait to open the next chapter in this story…

Sylwester Zwierzynski info@shirebrook247.com
Lead picture: created with Midjourney