Zac backs rules on campaigning councillors
8:40am Sunday 29th January 2012 in News By Christine Fleming
Richmond Park MP Zac Goldsmith has called restrictions preventing councillors from voting on issues they have campaigned on as “absurd”, and welcomed the Government’s decision to repeal the rules.
He said: “It is absurd that a person could, under the old rules, campaign for election against a particular development, and then be excluded from voting on it.
“The Government should be congratulated for taking action to free councillors to campaign in the best interest of the people they are elected to serve.”
Goldsmith’s comments came following new powers being put in place to lift the predetermination rule and remove the restrictions upon councillors which had previously prevented them taking part in decisions on which they had campaigned or expressed a predisposed view.
A commencement order for the Localism Act came into effect on Sunday, January 15, which now allows councillors to express opinions on issues of local importance without the fear of legal challenge.
