The chairman of North Tyneside’s Conservatives has sensationally quit the party, claiming it is “going in a direction I don't support”.
In a shock move, Sean Brockbank confirmed he had resigned from the party and would no longer be standing in next year’s local elections. His sudden departure comes just weeks after he ousted Coun George Westwater, the leader of the Tory opposition group on North Tyneside Council, to become the party’s candidate in Whitley Bay’s St Mary’s ward.
But Mr Brockbank, who had led the Conservative group on the Labour-dominated council before losing his Monkseaton South seat earlier this year, will now not be appearing on ballot papers next May. The North Tyneside Conservative Federation chairman’s decision to “take a step back” from politics after Rishi Sunak replaced Liz Truss as Prime Minister marks yet another dramatic episode in a troubled 2022, which has seen another councillor suspended and the local party accused of abusing the furlough scheme and “unethical” campaigning.
