Councillors quit Conservatives to form new party

Two Conservative councillors in Derbyshire have quit the party to start their own group, claiming some of their former colleagues have "forgotten where they come from".

Councillors Gareth Gee and Nigel Edwards-Walker, Conservative members of Derbyshire Dales District Council, left the party to form Derbyshire First.

This leaves the Conservative group on the district council - which is controlled by a Liberal Democrat-led alliance – down to nine councillors, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said.

Councillor Sue Hobson, deputy leader of the Derbyshire Dales Conservative group, said it was a "shame" individuals elected two years ago "changed their political allegiance".

The councillors, who represent Bakewell and the Dovedale, Parwich and Brassington wards respectively, made the move following a stark local election campaign for the Conservatives.

Gee also stood in last week's Derbyshire County Council elections as a Conservative candidate in Matlock but was unsuccessful, with Liberal Democrat Sue Burfoot winning the seat.

Gee said: "This is not a decision I have made lightly but it is the right time for me at this part of my career. Politics needs to change and be more local."

He told the LDRS the core aim of the new Derbyshire First party was to campaign against new housing targets and to ensure districts and boroughs were not divided through local government reorganisation.

The council has had its housing targets increased from 216 per year to 580, under reforms announced by the government.

Hobson, former group leader and now deputy leader of the Derbyshire Dales Conservative group, said: "It is a shame that individuals who have been voted in by residents just two years ago have broken that trust and changed their political allegiance.

"Rest assured that Derbyshire Dales Conservatives will continue to work hard for their residents."

Edmunds-Walker was approached for comment.

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