'My future is a bit unknown but I’m still standing': Fourth councillor resigns from Walsall Conservatives
A Walsall councillor has resigned from the Conservative Party stating it has ‘lost its way’.
Councillor Vera Waters, ward member for Rushall-Shelfield since 2018, announced the resignation on Monday, November 24.
She is the fourth Conservative councillor to resign in Walsall over the last 12 months.
Councillor Waters said several incidents pushed her to make the decision, one of them being an ‘issue’ with a fellow councillor, which was left unaddressed by the Conservative Party.
She added that the ‘path became plain’ when the Aldridge Brownhills Conservative Association told her that she could not stand as a candidate in the local elections next year.
As previously reported by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, nine sitting councillors in Walsall were blocked from being candidates by the association.
Those who were deselected have fiercely criticised the branch for the unprecedented move, and claimed no reasons were provided for the rejections.
All nine councillors submitted an appeal against the decision, seven of which were upheld, including Councillor Waters’.
She said the ‘future is a bit unknown’ but she will ‘continue to support Walsall in whatever way that she can’.
Speaking to the LDRS, Councillor Waters said: “I am totally disillusioned with the Conservative Party. I can no longer support the party whatsoever.
“There’s no structure to it at all, I no longer have any alignment with their policies. They have totally lost their way.
“These have been my thoughts for some time, then I was deselected without any reasons given, no support was given from the local office, my path became plain.
“There has been an issue with a fellow councillor which I attempted to address but nothing was done.
“This issue then escalated into me being to be blamed which was splashed across social media and the local newspapers. I am quite prepared for this to be heard by the monitoring officer within the council.
“I haven’t left the Conservative Party, they have left me. My path forward is to continue to support Walsall in whatever way that I can. My future is a bit unknown but I’m still standing.”
The Conservative Party has been approached for comment.
