Local Government Act 1888

First Election of County Councillors.

103 First election of county councillors.

(1) The first election of county councillors under this Act shall be held in the month of January next after the passing of this Act on such day in each county not earlier than the fourteenth day of January as the returning officer for that county may fix, and the returning officer shall publish notice of such day in the preceding month of December, and the day so fixed shall be deemed for the purposes of the first election to be the ordinary day of election of county councillors.

(2) The sheriff of each county shall be the returning officer for such first election, but if the sheriff desires to be a candidate at such election the county quarter sessions on his application may appoint another person to be the returning officer, and the person so appointed shall, for the purpose of such election, have the powers and duties of the sheriff.

(3) At the first election, the returning officer may, if it appears to him necessary, divide an electoral division into polling districts, so however that every polling district shall be an area or a combination of areas for which separate parts of the register of electors are made out, and he shall settle and. give proper notice of the places at which the poll for each electoral division, or district of a division, shall be taken.

(4) The clerk of the peace who will by virtue of this Act become the clerk of the county council when elected, shall make up the county register and division registers of the county electors for the purposes of the first election, and shall deliver the same to the returning officer, and every clerk of the peace who has in his custody any revised lists of electors required for making up such registers, shall supply to the above-mentioned clerk of the peace Such number of copies of those lists as he may require for the purpose of making up the said registers.

(5) The returning officer shall send to the clerk of the peace, who will by virtue of this Act become the clerk of the county council, the names of the persons elected, and shall send to each person elected a county councillor notice of his election, accompanied by a summons to attend the first meeting of the provisional council fixed by this Act at such time and place as the returning officer may fix.

(6) The costs properly incurred by the returning officer in reference to the first election, and in reference to such first meeting of the provisional council, shall be defrayed as expenses of the county council, and may be taxed on an application made by or by direction of the provisional council.

(7) In the administrative county of London, the returning officer for the first election shall be such fit person as the Local-Government Board may appoint, and such returning officer shall, for the purposes of such election, have the powers and duties of the sheriff, and any sheriff, under-sheriff, officer of the London School Board, or other public officer having authority in the Metropolis, and being in possession of any ballot boxes or other fittings or arrangements for an election shall permit such returning officer to use the same for the purposes of such first election.

(8) Such returning officer shall make up the county register and division registers of the county electors for the purposes of the first elections, and shall make them up out of the lists of voters made out in the year one thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight for the City of London, and for such portions of the counties of Middlesex, Surrey, and Kent, as are comprised in the Metropolis, and shall make the necessary alteration in the forms of those lists, and the secondary of the City of London, and the town clerks within the meaning of the Registration Acts for the parliamentary boroughs in the administrative county of London, and the clerks of the peace of Middlesex, Surrey, and Kent, shall deliver to the said returning officer such number of copies of the revised lists of electors as he may require. The returning officer for the administrative county of London shall send the names of the persons elected to the clerk of the Metropolitan Board of Works.

(9) The court of quarter sessions in any county, and the Metropolitan Board of Works in the Metropolis, shall advance to the returning officer such sum as is authorised by this Act to be advanced by county councils to returning officers for the purposes of an election.

(10) The sheriff having authority in any administrative county, or the largest part thereof, shall for the purposes of this Act be deemed to be the sheriff of that county.

104 Retirement of first county councillors.

(1) The county councillors of a county council elected at the first election shall retire from office on the ordinary day of election in the third year after the passing of this Act, and their places shall be filled by election.

(2) Of the first county aldermen one half shall retire on the ordinary day of election of county aldermen in the third year next after the passing of this Act, and the one half who are so to retire shall be determined by ballot by the provisional councillors at the time of the election of the county aldermen: Provided that where the total number of aldermen is not divisible by two the larger half shall first retire.

(3) The remaining half of the county aldermen shall retire on the ordinary day of election of county aldermen in the sixth year next after the passing of this Act.

(4) In this section the word " year " shall be construed to mean calendar year.

105 Preliminary action of county councillors as provisional council.

(1) The members of a county council first elected under this Act shall not enter on their ordinary duties or become the county council until the first day of April next after their election, or such other day as on the application of the provisional council the Local Government Board may appoint.

(2) Such members shall, on the second Thursday next after the day fixed for the first election, and thenceforward from time to time until the day above mentioned in this section, meet and act as a provisional council for arranging to bring this Act into operation.

(3) The provisional councillors shall at their first meeting elect one of their number to be chairman of that meeting and of the second meeting, and shall then at that meeting, or some adjournment thereof, proceed to elect the county aldermen in like manner as if they were a fully constituted county council, and such county aldermen shall be summoned to attend at the second meeting of the provisional council, and shall form part of the provisional council both for the election of chairman and all other purposes.

(4) The provisional council shall, at their second meeting, or some adjournment thereof, proceed to elect as their chairman a person qualified to be chairman of the county council and may from time to time fill any vacancy in the office of such chairman, and the person elected chairman shall be chairman of the provisional council, and also on and after the appointed day of the county council, and the term of office of such chairman shall end on the next ordinary day of election of chairman.

(5) This enactment shall extend to the vice-chairman and deputy chairman.

106 First proceedings of provisional council.

(1) The provisional council after disposing of the preliminary business shall proceed to provide for bringing the Various provisions of this Act into full operation oh the appointed day or days, and to make the necessary arrangements with the quarter sessions, and with reference to the distribution of duties among the different officers, and to provide for all matters which appear necessary or proper for enabling the county council as constituted under this Act to execute their duties, and for giving full effect to this Act.

(2) The provisions of this Act, and the enactments applied by this Act with respect to the proceedings of the county council, shall apply to the proceedings of the; provisional council, and any act of the provisional council may be signified under the hand of the chairman and any two members of the council present at the meeting, and countersigned by the officer acting: as their clerk.

(3) The provisional council of a. county shall be entitled to use the buildings belonging to the quarter sessions of that county, so that they do not interfere with the holding of any court, and the clerk of the peace and his officers, and the officers of the quarter sessions shall, if required, act as the officers of such provisional council and further the provisional council may from time to time hire such buildings and appoint such interim officers as appear to them necessary for the performance of their duties, and the costs incurred in the hiring of such buildings and payment of such officers or otherwise in the performance of their duties shall be defrayed as Costs properly incurred by the county council.

(4) There shall be paid out of the county rate to the clerk of the peace of the county, such reasonable remuneration as the court of quarter sessions may award for extra services rendered by him in bringing this Act into operation, and in acting as clerk of the county council, until his salary for acting as such clerk is fixed in manner provided by this Act.

(5) In the metropolis the foregoing provisions with respect to the use of buildings and the action of officers shall apply as if the Metropolitan Board of Works were the quarter sessions of the county, and as if any quarter sessions for the counties of Middlesex, and Surrey were the quarter sessions of the county of London, but the provisional council for the administrative county of London shall make arrangements with the provisional councils of Middlesex and Surrey as respects the use of buildings and the employment of the clerk of the peace and his officers and the officers of the quarter sessions.

(6) The provisional council shall have the same power of levying contributions for the purpose of their costs and for the future costs of the county council as they would have if they were constituted, a county council under this Act.

(7) The quarter sessions of every county and liberty, and in the metropolis the Metropolitan Board of Works, shall, by the appointment of committees, or the holding of sessions and meetings, and otherwise, make such provisions as are necessary or proper for making arrangements with the provisional council for carrying this Act into effect; and the quarter sessions may, after the appointed day, meet in like manner as if this Act had not passed, for the purpose of receiving reports from the committees and county officers for the period subsequent to the last quarter sessions and prior to the appointed day, and for making the ordinary quarterly payments, the usual sessional orders, and otherwise concluding and winding up the business of the county.