Councillor sends resignation to wrong council

A councillor who handed in a resignation letter to the wrong council says she no longer wants to quit.

Christine Duffy was elected in May to represent the Town ward on Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council but submitted a resignation letter to Kidsgrove Town Council on 4 August.

In the letter, seen by the BBC, Duffy said she had decided to step down as she had received "very little or no training for this role".

In a subsequent statement shared on Facebook by Reform UK Newcastle-under-Lyme on Tuesday, Duffy said: "I am not resigning as the borough councillor for the Town ward and I remain committed to representing the residents who elected me."

According to the Electoral Commission, there is no provision for a councillor to withdraw their resignation once it has been received by the authority.

Duffy claimed she changed her mind about quitting before the letter had been received by the borough council's proper officer.

"If a councillor wishes to resign then they must follow a specific process as set out in the Local Government Act 1972," said Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council's chief executive Gordon Mole.

"In this instance a letter was hand-delivered to an incorrect address at Kidsgrove Town Council.

"By the time it was received by me, as the proper officer, I had been notified that the content of the letter had been withdrawn and the councillor concerned continues to serve as a borough councillor."

Duffy has been elected to Kidsgrove Town Council in the past, but has not been a member of that authority since she left in October 2024.

She said she was "appalled" that her initial letter of resignation had been made public, and used by political rivals in an effort to force a by-election.

Mole said he was seeking "an explanation as to how this has been shared publicly by a third party" as Duffy had considered it to be a private letter.

The mayor of Kidsgrove, Mike Stubbs, has called for Mole to investigate the situation.

"Had the resignation been dealt with promptly and transparently when first received, it is difficult to see how the current circumstances could have arisen," he said.

He added: "The public are entitled to expect competent, timely and transparent administration from their local authority."

He continued: "The handling of this matter has now reached a stage where confidence in the process is being undermined."

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