Fenland Councillor Sarah Bligh quits Tories to join Lib Dems accusing the Conservatives of 'bitter in-fighting' and banning her from raising issues at meetings
Bitter in-fighting, being gagged over raising issues at council meetings and a lack of support has led one Conservative Fenland councillor to quit the party.
Councillor Sarah Bligh, who represents Parson Drove and Wisbech St Mary, announced her departure from the group to join the Liberal Democrats in a hard-hitting statement issued on Friday.
Her comments about the way candidates were selected for next year's elections, closely-mirror those of Victor Aveling, president of the North East Cambridgeshire Conservative Association, in his speech at the association's annual meeting in March.
She also accused the Conservative group of having "oppressive overtones that discourages free discussion, this is not healthy for local democracy and as a result I have felt unable to attend a number of council meetings."
Coun Bligh, who now expects calls for her resignation from her former party, said in her early days of being a councillor she was made to feel welcome by the Conservative group.
But added the support she was promised never materialised saying.
She said: "I was made to feel welcome in the beginning, with promises of help and support, which did not materialise from those that made the promise. In recent months, there has been bitter infighting within the Conservative group that hasn’t sat well with me.
"I have made no secret of the fact that I had suffered from mental health problems in the past and the infighting behaviour was starting to bring back those feelings.
"I was also concerned that those people that did support me when I started as a councillor were de-selected as a result of the political infighting and this did not resonate with me, what was happening in North East Cambridgeshire Counservative Association was just not fair.
"It has become clear to me that a certain group of people controlled the selection process by filling the executive with their supporters. I started thinking what happens if I don’t agree with this select group and I’m suddenly out of favour? How would this affect my work as a Councillor?
"There have also been major issues that I have been stopped from discussing in council because of the group's wider decision.
"During the recent leadership elections, I was asked for support for one of the candidates, I agreed and once the vote was over, I was made to feel unimportant once again. This type of behaviour is common within the group and personal political ambitions of several individuals is getting in the way of the ruling group running the council.
"I am sadly expecting there will be calls from some Conservatives for me to resign, however I fully intend to stand true to the 1,138 voters, (whether they only voted for me because of the party or not) and represent them until the end of my term, there would be absolutely no sense in calling for a by-election, months before the next full elections scheduled for May 2019.
"I acknowledge that some residents that voted for me because of the party and invite them to contact me if they would like to discuss my decision further."
Coun Bligh said she had not taken the decision lightly but added she was leaving to join the Lib Dems so she can work more closely with her fellow ward councillor and Lib Dem Gavin Booth and so she can benefit from the wider support of Fenland and Peterborough Lib Dems.
She said: "I am looking forward to working within a united team for the residents of Parson Drove and Wisbech St Mary ward with Coun Gavin Booth. We have been working pro-actively on ward issue over the last few years and it is clear to me that the type of issues I have experienced in the Conservatives are not present in the local Liberal Democrats who are prepared to stand up and fight for local residents on issues that affect them."
Coun Bligh's defection means there are now six opposition members out of Fenland's 39 councillors.
The council has 33 Conservatives, three Lib Dems (March councillor Stephen Court is the other), two Truly Independents (Michael and Virginia Bucknor) and one independent (Rob Skoulding).
