A veteran of the Conservatives in Penrith says he had been left disenfranchised by admin issues in the party after losing his membership.
Eden District Council member John Lynch has left the Conservative Party after 20 years but has pledged to continue representing his constituents in Penrith East as an independent. It reduces the number of Eden Conservatives on the council to 11.
Councillor Lynch said: “I didn’t leave the Conservative Party, the Conservative Party left me. About a month ago I hadn’t received my ballot papers for the leadership contest so I called the Carlisle office of the Conservatives and they said ‘you’re not a member of the Conservative Party.’
Cllr Lynch questioned why as he is a paying member and it emerged the party changed bank accounts. He said he did not feel he was properly informed.
“I’ve been disenfranchised through maladministration from the Conservative Party. What I’m more frustrated about is I’m not entitled to vote in the leadership contest, it’s the main thing I joined Conservative Party for, to have some sort of influence, however small.”
Conservative Group leader Debra Wicks said: “To be honest, the way things are locally and nationally, the Conservative Party has a lot of work to do.”
The number of Liberal Democrats on Eden District Council remains 12 and they control the authority with the help of a Labour, Greens and independent coalition.
Leader of the council and Eden’s Liberal Democrats Virginia Taylor said: “I’m not sure it makes a great deal of difference.”
But she said: “It may be an indication that the Conservative Party in Eden is not at its best. The Conservatives are not in the ascendance at the minute in Eden. In terms of the Westmorland & Furness Council, we’re there for another five years.”
Cumbria is set to be reorganised into two new local authority areas: Cumberland comprising Carlisle, Allerdale and Copeland and Westmorland & Furness in Eden, South Lakeland and Barrow-in-Furness.
Elections to the new unitary authorities serving the areas took place on May 5 and the Liberal Democrats took control of the new Westmorland & Furness Council outright taking 36 seats.
Elections to the new authorities are every four years, with councillors serving as a shadow authority for the first year before the existing councils hand over to them.
