Cllr Jason Luty, the non-aligned Independent councillor for Eastwood Park, has returned to the Conservative party.
This means that the Conservatives now have an even larger majority on the Council.
The Conservatives now have 28 councillors, the Liberal Democrats have 12, the Independents have seven (with the new addition of Alex Kaye), and Labour have four.
Cllr Luty (left) spent some time as an Independent councillor in the run-up to the local elections earlier this month.
In an email to Councilbust.com in December 2009, following a dispute with the Residents Assocation of Westborough, Cllr Luty said:
“I will be standing as an Independent candidate in Westborougth myself in 2010.
“I am in fact an elected councillor for Eastwood but I live in Westborough and I am the only person capable of representing the residents on the Council due to Cllr Terry’s [Independent leader] complete political incompetence and ineffectiveness.”
Cllr Luty also made it quite clear that his campaign would be motivated by removing Cllr Martin Terry from the seat, as the two have a long-running feud in the ward.
Following this, Cllr Luty became an Independent, whilst still serving his term as councillor for Eastwood Park. He was not aligned with the other Independent councillors during this time.
By late April, however, Cllr Luty had reneged on plans to stand as an Independent in Westborough.
He did not return his nomination papers by the deadline, and told the Echo:
“With the recent announcement that the general election will be on the same day as the local elections I have decided not to stand as a candidate in Westborough this May.
“I do plan to stand next year in Westborough.”
Cllr Terry’s seat was not up for election in the latest round of local elections; it was in fact Independent Tania Painton, who lost her seat to Liberal Democrat Paul Collins.
According to a report from the Corporate Director of Support Services on some amendments to the Constitution, which will be discussed at full Council tonight, Cllr Luty has returned to the Conservative party, and is therefore a Conservative councillor for his ward.
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