Three Conservative councillors resign from party with Horsey Bridge development among issues

Three of Peterborough City Council’s (PCC) Conservative councillors have resigned from the party, less than a fortnight after it strengthened its control at the local elections.

The Conservatives increased their numbers from 28 to 30, just one seat short of a majority, on 4 May, but have now dropped to 27 – their lowest number since 2020.

Cllr Peter Hiller (Glinton and Castor), Cllr Brian Rush (Stanground South) and Cllr Ray Bisby (Stanground South) have left the Conservatives and joined Peterborough First.

Cllr Rush, who has been a councillor for some 23 years, was appointed the Conservative group’s treasurer at the Conservatives’ annual meeting just last week.

But he’s been thinking about his decision since March, he said, “when the Horsey Bridge planning application, which was refused at committee, was called in by three Conservative councillors”.

The development, which would have been made up of 20 buildings, was planned for Stanground but rejected by PCC’s planning committee.

But three councillors 'called in' the decision, meaning it will be looked at again and is expected to be the subject of a future PCC meeting.

Cllr Rush said there are other reasons he “won’t say” but that he wants to “make decisions for the community I serve”.

Asked about the timing of his resignation – just weeks after the local elections – he said that he simply wanted to tender it before PCC’s annual general meeting on Monday (22 May).

At the meeting, the structure of the council’s committees as well as Peterborough's new mayor will be officially decided.

Horsey Bridge was also an issue for Cllr Bisby. "I think, in the party, I'll be asked to vote for something that I don't believe in," he said. "So, to make sure that doesn't happen, I'm becoming an independent."

Cllr Bisby said he "couldn’t sleep last night" while considering his decision, which he says he reached at independently from Cllrs Rush and Hiller. "I couldn't sleep last night because I feel really uneasy about moving forward with the Conservatives,” he said.

He added that there have been other decisions he hasn't agreed with and that he doesn't want to be whipped - i.e. told how to vote - anymore.

"There's obviously something the Conservatives need to look at," he said, "of why people are resigning".

Cllr Hiller, meanwhile, has said that there was “no single area of concern” in relation to his resignation, but that he doesn’t want to “go along with the political self-interest of the current administration”.

“I want to represent my rural ward, that I have for 17 years now, as an independent free from any political mantras, any particular dogmas – call it what you will,” he said.

“I’m not naming names or slagging off the current administration, that’s not something I wish to do but it’s what I’ve decided to do and that’s what I’ve done.”

Cllr Hiller was first elected to the council in 2006 and most recently elected on 4 May this year.

Council leader Cllr Wayne Fitzgerald (Conservatives, West) has been contacted for comment.

Cllr Steve Allen (Eye, Thorney and Newborough, Conservatives), Cllr Fitzgerald's deputy, said that the resignations are "disappointing".

"But what I think is even more disappointing, is that the people who elected these members as Conservatives now find that, within a week of the election, they're independent. That is not really a democratic decision to get elected and then a couple of days later change your mind. I think that does need calling out."

He added that he "doesn't have a view on Horsey Bridge".