Reform councillor quits due to ill health

Worcestershire county councillor Gaynor Jean-Louis had not yet attended a council meeting

A Reform councillor has resigned for health reason, four months after she was elected.

Worcestershire county councillor Gaynor Jean-Louis represented Bromsgrove South but had not yet attended a council meeting, submitting apologies several times.

The council's Reform leader Joanne Monk said she was proud of Jean-Louis for "putting her family and her community first" in making the decision.

Reform won the seat by 89 votes in May and the party controls the council as a minority administration. Bromsgrove's Conservatives called for Jean-Louis to return her councillor's allowance and said a by-election would cost tens of thousands of pounds.

"In our very first full council meeting, I said if any councillor is consistently unable to fulfill their duties of representing their local community, then they should consider resigning, even if the reason is ill-health," Monk said.

"We have to announce that councillor Gaynor Jean-Louis has formally resigned.

"We fully support Gaynor's decision to step down due to health reasons.

"This has not been an easy decision, and I'm proud of Gaynor for putting her family and her community first - values every Reform UK member stands firmly for."

A by-election is now set to take place in the coming months.

Nigel Cutress, chairman of Bromsgrove and the Villages Conservatives, said: "Whilst we wish Gaynor well, we're not surprised by her resignation.

"She failed to attend the election count and even more shockingly she has failed to attend a single council meeting since her election in May - all whilst still taking her councillor allowance.

"Perhaps the Reform councillor could help by returning the councillor allowance she has taken since May, especially when she failed to attend a single meeting. It's the right thing to do."