I regard with great sympathy the articles written by John Wane; some years ago I had similar troubles, serving as a councillor on Luttons Parish Council. Council meetings and the councillors themselves were dominated by the clerk – and of course the Parish Clerk has no real right to speak until invited to do so, let alone to run meetings. That is the function of the chair. Unlawful practises were rife then, too – the clerk was signing cheques on behalf of the Parish Council – the law said quite clearly that only councillors had the power to sign cheques. There were other such wrong-doings. When I and Councillor Keith Standaloft attempted to return the Parish Council to a more constitutional way of working, we were were personally attacked and slandered.Council meetings were unlawfully hijacked and used to mount such attacks. Standing Orders were completely ignored. Meetings were not the workings of democracy – the were the venue of dictatorship. I invite you to work out the connection between the clerk to whom I refer and the present chair. It is sad to find that things have changed little. Are those who have remained on the Parish Council since that time so dominated that they cannot see what is happening? Or do they really not care? In either case they should not be serving as councillors. For too long, seats on the Parish Council seem to have been regarded by their occupants as status symbols, marks of social standing. They are NOT. They are positions of SERVICE – service to the community and not service in thrall to a dictator. I would urge the electorate to work to force a complete re-election of the Parish Council – there are constitutional mechanisms by which this can be done, over time. Cut out the dead wood and elect competent people whose intention is the good of the community and not their own social standing. There ARE good souls on Luttons Parish Council – let them stand up and be counted. Let us see an end to cronyism and the co-opting of weak-minded and unsuitable people into Council seats, people who are there only because they can be easily led.. For things to have got this bad and persisted for this length of time, one has to recognise that there is something significant at work; something on the darker side of human nature. I’d recommend reading through this article: http://www.halcyon.com/jmashmun/npd/howto.html I’m sure you will find it very revealing.