Tories and Labour Team up to Insist UKIP Councillor Must Resign

Former UKIP councillor Dave Small is facing calls to resign from his seat and face re-election after allegedly calling African migrants ‘scroungers’ and Clare Balding and Sir Elton John ‘perverts’, according to the Redditch Standard.

The Conservatives and Labour leaders from Redditch Borough Council have called on Mr Small to quit the Church Hill seat he won in the local elections on the 23rd May to prove his claim that he represents the people of the district.

Council leader Bill Hartnett said he did not believe people in Church Hill got the representative they thought they were voting for.

“I therefore put it to Councillor Small he owes it to the electorate to resign and contest the seat again as an independent. I hope residents make their views known and Councillor Small does the decent thing and resigns.”

Leader of the council Conservative group Juliet Brunner added, “When the Conservative party canvassed residents during the campaign period we did not find homophobes and racists in Church Hill. We must question how he can truly represent the community. He has no choice and should resign immediately.”

A spokesman for the council said it was a democratic issue the council could not comment on. However, as Mr Small’s comments were made before he officially became a councillor he was not bound by the authority’s code of conduct and Redditch Borough Council is powerless to act.

Local MP Karen Lumley has tabled an urgent question to the Government urging ministers to extend the proposed power to recall Members of Parliament to be extended to local government representatives as well.

She said, “The people of Church Hill would certainly never have voted for Mr Small if they knew what his views were. He owes it to the people of Church Hill to stand down and fight for the seat as an independent in a by-election.”