A CONSERVATIVE councillor has resigned from the party, blaming a personality clash with the area’s MP.
Clr Joyce Cawthra, of Brighouse, has left the Tories after losing a selection contest to a young opponent.
Yesterday she said she believed Conservative Calder Valley MP Craig Whittaker was to blame for her defeat.
“I lost because I’m not biddable,” she said. “The new MP wants people round him who he can mould.”
Twenty activists met on Friday at the town’s Conservative office on Church Lane to choose a candidate for the Brighouse ward in next year’s Calderdale Council elections. Clr Cawthra, who has served on the council since 2004, lost out to Rastrick student Scott Benton.
She said: “I think Craig Whittaker was behind this but that’s only my opinion, I can’t prove it.”
But the MP said: “The members of Brighouse branch were incredibly impressed by Scott Benton who put in a very good case for being a dynamic young councillor.”
Clr Cawthra has resigned from the Conservatives and will sit as an independent councillor until her term ends in May, when she will stand for re-election.
