Can I become Independant of a political party without triggering a by-election?

Question

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?

Answer 1

The only people who will suggest this is political party members.
You would not need to step down.

Comments

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