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The first item of business at the annual meeting must be to elect the chairman of the council. A council is not properly constituted without a chairman, so if no one is willing to be chairman then the meeting cannot proceed and should be adjourned. It is not permitted to elect a chairman for that meeting only - you either elect a chairman of the council or you don't. Of course, a chairman can resign as chairman at any time, so a council could elect someone at the annual meeting as chairman of the council and that person subsequently resigns as chairman, precipitating the need to elect a new chairman.
A parish and town council must hold an annual meeting in May of each year. In an election year the annual meeting must be held within 14 days of the day on which the newly elected councillors come in to office.
Yes. The law says that vacancies must be filled as soon as reasonably practicable. There are two types of vacancy - one arising as a result of insufficient nominations at an election, and a casual vacancy arising at any other time as a result of a resignation, death or disqualification.
Procedure for filling vacancies following an election
Procedure for filling casual vacancies