Handforth Town Council

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Handforth Parish Council
Type
Type	Parish Council
Leadership
Chair	Cllr John Smith
Vice Chair	Cllr Susan Moore
Parish Clerk	Ashley Comiskey Dawson
Structure
Seats	7 Councillors
Independent	3 / 7
Improving Handforth	3 / 7
Handforth Ratepayers' Association	1 / 7
Elections
Voting system	Multiple non transferable vote
Last election	2 May 2019
Next election
Meeting place
Handforth Parish Council, The Youth Centre, Old Road, Handforth, SK9 3AB
Website
www.handforth.org.uk

Handforth Town Council is the parish council for the civil parish of Handforth in Cheshire. Previously known as Handforth Parish Council, it was renamed Handforth Town Council on 31 July 2021.^[1]

History[]

First iteration[]

Following the Local Government Act 1894 Handford Parish Council was established for the rural Handforth parish. It was part of the Stockport Rural District and in 1901 had a population of 794. In 1904 the rural district was abolished. The Handforth civil parish became an urban district and the parish council became Handforth Urban District Council, absorbing powers that were previously the responsibility of Stockport Rural District Council. In 1936 the council and urban district were abolished as part of a Local Government Act 1929 county review order and the former area was split between Cheadle and Gatley and Wilmslow.^[2]

Second iteration[]

The parish council was established again in May 2011 with the new civil parish formed from part of Wilmslow. Its duties and role are to represent the local community, consult and advise on planning applications and provide local amenities and activities such as Christmas lighting and grounds maintenance.^[3] Its early projects, such as the development of green belt land, the building of a war memorial, the creation of an after-school club, the creation of the parish council's Facebook page and installation of CCTV cameras were blocked by members of the council, mostly the Handforth Ratepayers. Accusations of personal conflicts of interest were made by the Ratepayers and their rivals on the council, Improving Handforth, and relations between the two became increasingly fractious. Formal complaints were made by both groups, including by Aled Brewerton (who was then a member of the public). Lawyers' statements were read out at meetings on a regular basis.^[4]

A meeting of the council was highlighted by politics student Shaan Ali in 2021, who noted, "it's the parish councils who directly work with communities and it's so fascinating..."^[5] He found the video on YouTube and told a friend, Janine, who tweeted it. This was then retweeted by thousands of accounts, including those of Piers Morgan, Richard Osman and Greg James, ^[5] leading to increased attention and the meeting going viral, becoming the subject of attention and comment.^[5][6]

Parish councils are permitted to be known as town councils, village councils, community councils or neighbourhood councils and require only a resolution of the parish council to change their name. At a meeting of Handforth Parish Council on 13 July 2021 it was resolved that from 31 July 2021 it would be known as Handforth Town Council.^[7]

Councillors[]

Elections were held in 2019^[8] when the following councillors were elected. The chair is John Smith and the vice chair is Susan Moore. Since the 2019 elections, Jean Thompson has been disqualified and both Aled Brewerton and Barry Burkhill have resigned. Julie Smith and Sam Milward were elected in 2021 and The Lovely Kerry-Jane Sullivan was voted in as a co-opted member in 2021 also.

East Ward[]

This ward was not contested.

• Cynthia Samson (chair of finance committee) – Improving Handforth
• John Smith (chair of council) – Improving Handforth

South Ward[]

• Ribia Nisa – Labour
• Kerry Sullivan – Improving Handforth

West Ward[]

• Susan Moore (vice chair of council, chair of planning and environment committee) – Independent^[9]
• Julie Smith (chair of personnel committee) – Independent
• Sam Milward – Independent

Elections[]

2019 elections[]

East Ward[]

Incumbent Councillors Cynthia Samson and John Smith were returned, uncontested. Both had been elected in 2015 under the "Improving Handforth" banner and were returned uncontested under the same banner.

2019 Handforth Parish Council elections: Handforth East Ward (2 seats)^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Improving Handforth	Cynthia Margaret Samson	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Improving Handforth	John Michael Smith	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
Majority			Unopposed	N/A	N/A
Majority			Unopposed	N/A	N/A
Turnout			N/A	N/A	N/A
	Improving Handworth hold		Swing	N/A
	Improving Handworth hold		Swing	N/A

South Ward[]

Incumbent Councillor Brian Tolver was re-elected, with a reduced majority. He had previously been elected in 2015 as an Independent, but stood in 2019 under the banner of "Handforth Ratepayers' Association". He was joined by long-serving Cheshire East Council member Barry Burkhill, who has represented Handforth on Cheshire East Council and its predecessor Macclesfield Borough Council since 1979. Burkhill joined Tolver in standing as a member of the "Handforth Ratepayers' Association". He replaced incumbent Councillor Ian Clark, who did not re-contest the seat.

2019 Handforth Parish Council elections: Handforth South Ward (2 seats)^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Handforth Ratepayers' Association	Barry Edward Burkhill	316	29.98	+29.98
	Handforth Ratepayers' Association	Brian Victor Tolver	271	25.71	-9.71
	Independent	Andrew Backhouse	239	22.68	+22.68
	Independent	Roger Clive Small	228	21.63	+21.63
Majority			77	7.31	+7.31
Majority			32	3.04	-7.16
Turnout			1,054	42.60	-26.37
	gain from Independent		Swing
	Handforth Ratepayers' Association hold		Swing

There were 5 spoilt ballots in the South Ward.

West Ward[]

All three Councillors for the heavily-contested West Ward were elected for the first time. The three incumbent Councillors returned in 2015, Kerry Burgess ("Independent and Protect Greenbelt"), Matthew Clark (Independent) and Kerry Sullivan (an ally of Councillors Samson and Smith in the East Ward, under the "Improving Handforth" banner) all declined to re-contest their seats. The three successfully-returned Councillors in 2019, Aled Brewerton, Susan Moore and Jean Thompson, were all elected as Independents. However, after the election, both Aled Brewerton and Jean Thompson would side with the two "Handforth Ratepayers' Association" Councillors in South Ward, while Susan Moore would side with the two Independent Councillors in East Ward who had originally been elected under the "Improving Handforth" banner. Councillor Thompson was then unseated in 2020, due to a failure to attend any council meetings for six months.

2019 Handforth Parish Council elections: Handforth West Ward (3 seats)^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Susan Elizabeth Moore	451	21.17	+21.17
	Independent	Jean Thompson	369	17.32	+17.32
	Independent	Aled Brewerton	353	16.57	+16.57
	Independent	Michael Keith Thompson	294	13.80	+13.80
	Independent	Lee Robert Nelson	263	12.35	+12.35
	Independent	Timothy Hardy	218	10.23	+10.23
	Liberal Democrats	Chris Fortune	182	8.55	+8.55
Majority			157	7.20	+7.20
Majority			75	3.44	+3.44
Majority			59	2.71	+2.71
Turnout			2,180	23.92	+23.92
	Independent gain from		Swing
	Independent gain from Independent		Swing
	Independent gain from		Swing

There were 20 spoilt ballots in the West Ward.

2015 elections[]

East Ward[]

2015 Handforth Parish Council elections: Handforth East Ward (2 seats)^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Improving Handforth	Cynthia Margaret Samson	534	43.31
	Improving Handforth	John Michael Smith	473	38.36
	Independent	Beryl May Chapman	226	18.33
Majority			308	24.98
Majority			247	20.03
Turnout			1,233	53.93
	Improving Handforth gain from Independent
	Improving Handforth gain from Independent

There were 44 spoilt ballots in the East Ward.

South Ward[]

2015 Handforth Parish Council elections: Handforth South Ward (2 seats)^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Ian Clark	540	39.36
	Independent	Brian Victor Tolver	486	35.42
	Improving Handforth	Victor Moran	346	25.22
Majority			194	14.14
Majority			140	10.20
Turnout			1,372	68.97
	Independent hold		Swing
	Independent hold		Swing

There were 37 spoilt ballots in the South Ward.

West Ward[]

2015 Handforth Parish Council elections: Handforth West Ward (3 seats)^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent and Protect Greenbelt	Kerry Burgess	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Independent	Matthew Clark	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Improving Handforth	Kerry Sullivan	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
Majority			Unopposed	N/A	N/A
Majority			Unopposed	N/A	N/A
Majority			Unopposed	N/A	N/A
Turnout			N/A	N/A	N/A
	gain from Independent		Swing
	Independent hold		Swing	N/A
	gain from Independent		Swing

Complaints[]

In 2017, residents complained about the conduct of parish councillors as they believed meetings were becoming unproductive.^[13] The Independent described Handforth council meetings as "full of petty arguments about points of order and whether items had been agreed for the agenda – with the battle of ideas entirely absent."^[14]

A letter from David Brown, director of governance and compliance at Cheshire East Council, made references to councillors' behaviour in the past and alleged misconduct, including suggestions by unnamed councillors that elections should not be held:^[15]

As Monitoring Officer in Cheshire East I have received a multiplicity of complaints and referrals. These range from multiple complaints about councillors' behaviour; to fundamental issues of governance and member/officer engagement. The most recent referrals relate to suggestions that some members of Handforth Parish Council have purported to take decisions that are plainly unlawful, and these decisions have resulted in expenditure of public funds.

— David Brown, Director of Governance and Compliance at Cheshire District Council^[16][17]

At an employment committee meeting held on 4 November 2020, three councillors – Brian Tolver, Aled Brewerton and Barry Burkhill – tried to suspend the clerk Ashley Comiskey Dawson.^[18]

On Cheshire East Council (CEC), Burkhill faced a vote of no confidence from Conservative councillor Liz Wardlaw for his "complicity in the bullying" of Jackie Weaver – coordinator of a council Zoom call meeting – and for bringing "this council and his role within this council into disrepute".^[19] The motion was referred to the council’s standard committee and was not debated at the full council meeting in February.^[20] Burkhill quit the parish council in May 2021 saying, "I have decided to concentrate on my Handforth Ratepayer Independent role at CEC, as too much of my time has been taken up in trying to deal with HPC's enduring problems."^[21]

In April 2021, chair Brian Tolver and vice-chair Aled Brewerton both announced they would be stepping down from the parish council. Their resignations were believed to have been in response to the reaction of the now viral Zoom meeting.^[22][23]

Brian Tolver only resigned as chair, not as councillor in the April meeting, whereas Brewerton resigned from both.^[21]

See also[]

• Cheshire East Council bullying and misconduct allegations § Handforth Parish Council

References[]

External links[]

• Channel 4 News – Meet Shaan Ali, the 17-year-old A-Level student who made a small parish council meeting go viral after he unearthed it on YouTube.
• Twitter – the original tweet by Shaan Ali's friend Janine