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0 votes
I was elected to a Parish Council as a member of a national political party last May. Since being elected, I have realised that my fellow councillors within the same political party have little or no interest in the town, but they all have a political agenda which I do not share.
I simply want to do the best for the residents of my town and I sincerely believe that I would serve the residents better if I had no political affiliations.

If I now announce that I have left the party and that I am representing the residents as an Independant, does that mean that I am duty (or honour) bound to step down from the council and trigger a by-election which our council can ill afford? Or can I continue until the end of my term as an Independant with impunity?
by (210 points)

1 Answer

+1 vote
The only people who will suggest this is political party members.
You would not need to step down.
by (4.6k points)
The Borough Council by mistake deleted my membership of a political party from my Declaration of Interests
Our Chair not realising this lodged a complaint to the Monitoring Officer claiming I hadn’t declared my membership
Of course the complaint was laughed out but I never received an apology
I did ask the MO what they would have done if I’d deliberately not declared my interest and he said nothing !
So there’s no problem but remember get your Declaration updated

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