Essex Tories in Disarray

8.47.26am GMT Fri 20th Apr 2007

Commenting on news that Cllr Rodney Bass, cabinet member for highways and transportation has resigned from the cabinet and that Cllr Mark Cossens and Cllr Pierre Oxley have resigned from the Conservative group at county hall, with Cllr Cossens also sacked as chair of the Corporate policy development group, Liberal Democrat leader, Cllr Tom Smith-Hughes said:

"Clearly Essex Tories are in disarray; to misquote Oscar Wilde, 'To lose one senior councillor may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose several looks more than careless.' The news that Cllr Rodney Bass has resigned from the cabinet after a failed leadership bid, and the sacking of a prominent Tory councillor as chairman of the council's Corporate policy development group, shows all is not well amongst Essex's Conservatives. It signifies that despite all the emphasis on the new compassionate Tory party, deep divisions clearly remain with more emphasis on personal and factional agendas rather than serving the community."