Frodsham Town Council has agreed to alter the way in which it selects the Town Mayor and Deputy Mayor each year.

Until now, Frodsham's mayoral appointment system has been based on 'seniority', that is, the number of years a councillor has served, either from the date that they were elected to the Council or the date of their last been made Mayor.

Under this system, Frodsham's current Mayor Cllr Caroline Ashton would be succeeded by Cllr Judith Critchley, followed by Cllr Donna Critchley and then Cllr Mark Nield.

However, the Town Council has now decided to elect Frodsham's Mayors through an annual democratic vote.

At Monday's Council meeting, Cllr Phil Griffiths said: "I think some of us have a problem with the fact that [the current system] is based on seniority and not merit, which means anybody can just sit there for however long they like and become Mayor by default, whether they've put in a lot of effort to the Council or not.

"I think it is fairer for the Mayor to be elected by their peers every year."

This view was supported by Cllrs Bernie Wade, Lord Frank Pennington and Ryan McKeown, who added: "It's about making the role relevant and having some civic pride. For me, passing it down a line isn't civic pride. It's about sitting here and being able to say that I had a say in voting in that person. It also keeps it more relevant; [the seniority system] is a very antiquated way of doing things.

However, Cllr Donna Critchley was in favour of retaining the current system, saying: "From the beginning it's been on seniority, and I think that is the fairest way, because of the cliques and toxicity that can exist in councils. We could have the same person elected year in year out.

"A lot of us do put the service in and I think it's only fair [that we all get the chance to be Mayor]."

Despite such reservations, the proposed changes were carried, meaning that Frodsham's Mayor and Deputy Mayor for the year 2021/22 will be elected at the next Council meeting.

After having served for a year, the Town Mayor will be required to step back for a period of two years to allow other councillors to take on the role.

Frodsham Town Council also agreed to dispose of a clause in its standing orders which reads: "Any councillor who is subject to an ongoing code of conduct complaint shall not be eligible to serve as Mayor or Deputy Mayor until the complaint is decided."

In explanation of this action, Cllr Judith Critchley stated that, following a judicial review involving Ledbury Town Council which ruled that parish councils do not have any powers to sanction any of their members, Frodsham Town Council could not legally prevent a councillor from serving in the civic role.

Cllr McKeown supported this position, adding: "Someone could just put in 15 code of conduct complaints against their fellow councillors the week before [the new Mayor is elected] and they would be the only person left eligible to be Mayor.

"It makes total sense to take that out because we have no way of finding out if there are code of conduct complaints against somebody anyway [as it is confidential]."