At the annual meeting held yesterday evening (4 May), Honiton Town Council elected a mayor and deputy mayor just two days before an election to fill 10 empty seats.

Following an impromptu speech of appreciation, in which the 'existing mayor' was applauded for the "enormous amount of work" undertaken throughout the "horrors of Covid-19" and despite "personal enmity", Cllr Jill McNally nominated Cllr John Zarczynski for the position.

This was upheld with a unanimous vote from all seven councillors. Cllr Carol Gilson was then nominated by the mayor as his deputy, which again was approved by everyone there.

The decision to appoint key roles just two days before a significant number of new councillors are due to be elected has been met with some criticism.

The issue was raised during public question time, with Serena Sexton asking why they had not waited for a "bigger pool of people with which to choose" and was it because "they did not wish to allow incoming councillors to have a say in the matter?"

She added: "This is particularly pertinent as the normal protocol, when an election is due, is to take these key decisions after the election.

"A deferment now would avoid the need for subsequent challenge, to what would be a premature decision, thereby avoiding conflict between sitting councillors and those newly appointed."

Cllr Zarczynski responded that 'unfortunately' it was due to "DALC's advice and Covid" and the inference that they were holding this meeting to "grab key positions" was "very misleading and could not be further from the truth."

Watch a recording of the meeting on the Honiton Nub News Facebook page .