A current Stirling councillor who was originally elected as a Conservative candidate has resigned from the party.
Dunblane and Bridge of Allan ward representative Alastair Majury is now operating as an independent and says he will stand for re-election to Stirling Council at the May 5 elections in that capacity.
The ward member confirmed to the Observer that his status changed as of March 1 this year following his resignation from the Conservatives.
He said it was a decision he had been mulling over “for quite some period”.
“I have made the very difficult decision to resign as a member of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party,” said Councillor Majury, “and I will serve the rest of my term as an independent councillor.
“This is not a decision that I have taken lightly and have been considering this for quite some period, and discussed it with a few people then, and in the prior few months with more people.
“I am extremely grateful for the support that I have received in making this decision from Conservatives both within my ward and indeed across Scotland, and the UK, along with the support that I have received from members of the communities that I serve.
“I believe that I would best be able to serve my communities as an independent councillor, and I will be seeking re-election as an independent councillor in the upcoming local elections.
“It is, of course, trivial compared to what is going on in Ukraine, and to the people of Ukraine. I hope that the ongoing situation can be resolved quickly.”
Scottish Conservatives, however, said Councillor Majury had failed to be reselected as a candidate.
A Scottish Conservative spokesperson said this week: “Councillor Majury failed to satisfactorily complete the Scottish Conservative vetting and selection process that is in place to ensure candidates are suitable to stand for election.
“If people in Dunblane and Bridge of Allan want hard-working councillors who could realistically form part of an administration that would sort out their shambolic bin collections and prevent another four years of SNP leadership then they should vote for their Scottish Conservative candidates Douglas Dodds and Willie Stirling, two accomplished and excellent candidates who will do a great job of representing the area.”
Councillor Majury was originally elected at the last local government elections in 2017.
However, within days of being voted in, he was suspended from the Conservatives after it emerged he had made offensive online comments. He was later reinstated following a party probe and he publicly apologised for the comments.
At the recent council budget meeting he and fellow independent councillor Rob Davies put forward their own budget seeking a 3.5 per cent council tax increase while supporting many of the SNP/Labour administration’s proposals such as a £450K one-off fuel support, £120K for school clothing and £378K to enhance the Scottish Child Bridging payments, etc.
They also sought to scrap a £35 garden waste charge permit and return bin collections to two-weekly along with asking for an additional £500,000 for Dunblane and Bridge of Allan ward and the same for Forth and Endrick ward. They also sought support for a mobile Changing Places-like ‘Mobiloo’ facility.
Their budget, however, failed to find support from other councillors, with the Tories presenting their own budget and the SNP/Labour administration’s budget, which was ultimately successful, being backed by the Green and Alba councillors.
