The chairman of Nottingham's Conservatives has denied claims the party is "in a mess" ahead of May's elections after a row which caused its opposition leader on the city council to stand down. Conservative candidates are now being chosen to stand for the Nottingham City Council elections after a period of delay, but some local members say they have been "disenfranchised" from this process.
Paul Ruane, the chairman of the local party, insists they are "ready to take the fight to Labour" on May 4. But some members of the party's executive in Nottingham say this claim is "delusional", whilst Mr Ruane says these members are being "disruptive" as they call for an emergency meeting over the issue.
The Conservative Party currently has just two councillors at Nottingham City Council and problems have been caused by the fact that one of them, Roger Steel, has not been chosen to stand again in May. The decision comes despite Councillor Steel having served as an elected Conservative member since 2011 and Andrew Rule, the other current Tory councillor in Nottingham who serves as its group leader, says he will not stand again in May in protest at the move.
