In addition to the District-wide ballot of residents and businesses we also sought views through a Citizens' Panel and Focus Groups as well as consulting Council employees and Parish Councils. All forms of consultation showed overwhelming support for the Council Leader and Cabinet option. The remainder of results were evenly split between the other two options - elected Mayor and Cabinet or elected Mayor and Council Manager. The results of the consultation are show in the table below. Each councillor serves four years.
Councillors stand as members of a political party or as independents.
They share responsibility for the Council's activities and take part in decision making. Cabinet This would work a bit like the Cabinet in national government with a small number of councillors taking a lead role in areas like environment, housing and finance. There would be a maximum of ten people in the Cabinet. The Leader would be one of the existing 49 ward Councillors and would be chosen by the other Councillors. The Leader will chair the Cabinet and will decide on the direction of the council with the other Councillors.