Brian Peck elected Council Chairman after ‘surprise’ mass resignations

Brian Peck has been elected Chairman of Gerrards Cross Town Council after ‘surprise’ mass resignations last week.

The local property developer, who is the managing director of Mentmore Homes, was proposed by Cllr Jaspal Chhokar during the meeting of four councillors – the minimum number the Council needs to conduct business or be ‘quorate’.

Cllr Peck accepted the post on an interim basis until May 2024, the end of the current electoral year.

The newly-elected Chairman then returned the favour by proposing Cllr Chhokar as the new Deputy Chair for the remainder of the electoral year, which he accepted.

Cllr Crispin Da Costa abstained from the vote on the new Chair, while the only other councillor present at the Monday night meeting – Cllr Celia Stuart-Lee – seconded Cllr Peck’s appointment.

The election of a new Chair follows Andrew Wood’s resignation as Chair and Mayor of the Council last week, which was followed by the exit of a further five councillors.

Although Cllr Peck has now replaced Mr Wood as Chair, he has not been elected Mayor, despite this being on the Council’s agenda for the EGM.

The election of a new Mayor – a ceremonial formality – will instead take place at the Council’s next annual statutory meeting in May 2024.

Cllr Peck told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that he had not expected last week’s mass resignations from the Council.

He said: “I am not going to make many comments, because as you can appreciate, it all happened a week ago. It was a surprise.

“I will work for this Town Council as I have always worked for this Town Council. I have lived in this town for 44 years. My family grew up here. It is important to me.”

During the meeting, the Deputy Town Clerk also gave an update on the mass Council resignations, which has halved the number of councillors, and sparked six upcoming by-elections.

She said councillors who had recently left the Council had ‘been deleted’ by the IT company and are in the process of returning their equipment.

Several Committee appointments were also announced at the meeting.

Former Gerrards Cross councillors Tim Greenfield, John O’keeffe and Peter Roberts – who all quit the Council last week – were among a small group of members of the public who attended the EGM.