Oxfordshire roads boss called to quit Eastleigh council seat

Tim Bearder posted on Twitter about his appointment to Oxfordshire County Council's new cabinet

The new roads boss for Oxfordshire County Council has been called on to quit a local authority seat he holds in Eastleigh in Hampshire.

Liberal Democrat Tim Bearder was announced as the highways cabinet member for Oxfordshire on Monday after a three-party alliance was formed.

Mr Bearder is also a councillor at South Oxfordshire District Council and for Eastleigh Borough Council.

He told BBC News he was not quitting and called himself a "good councillor".

Mr Bearder added he was "not going to ask Eastleigh Borough Council to waste £5,000 pounds to hold a by-election to take an interim health check on my performance just because the local Conservative MP [Paul Holmes] thinks I should".

Jerry Hall, of Eastleigh Conservatives, said residents in Mr Bearder's ward West End South were "feeling short-changed by three-timing Tim" and added "many were unaware of his activities in Oxfordshire".

"People want a local representative," he said.

(R-L) Liz Brighouse, Pete Sudbury and Liz Leffman agreed to form an alliance to run Oxfordshire County Council

Paul Holmes, MP for Eastleigh, said Mr Bearder's decision to take a role in Oxfordshire County Council's cabinet "shows how out of touch he is" with residents in Eastleigh.

He said: "My challenge to Councillor Bearder is simple. Trigger a by-election and let the people of West End have their say on whether they want a councillor who sits on three councils across Oxfordshire and Hampshire.

"If Councillor Bearder believes he has done nothing wrong, he should have nothing to fear from letting the voters of West End decide."

Mr Bearder said the comments were "nothing more than horrible political spin".

He also tweeted Mr Holmes on 12 May asking if he would be "calling for the resignation of Ben Bradley" after the Mansfield MP was selected to lead Nottinghamshire County Council.

Mr Bearder lists two home addresses, one in Wheatley in Oxfordshire and another in Eastleigh, on each council's website.

Prior to entering politics, he worked for the BBC for 12 years as a journalist and presented a local music programme in Oxfordshire.