I want to keep my private life private, says DUP man after deciding to quit as a councillor
A DUP councillor has said his decision to resign his seat was the “honourable” thing to do amid personal changes in his life.
Nigel Kells, who has been a member of Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council since 2014, last week announced he will step down from the role next month.
Yesterday he said he felt unable to devote “100%” to his council role while his focus was on private matters.
“I stood for election in 2014 and I was pretty settled in the Antrim town area,” said Mr Kells.
“I got a good vote and had an awful lot of support there and really tried to do the right thing the whole time I’ve been there. I’ve tried my best to represent people to the best of my ability.
“There’s not a long time left until elections next year, but I find myself in a position where I’m spending more time in Moneymore, where I’m originally from and where my family are.”
The councillor, whose partner, Gibraltar international netball player Meg Martinez recently announced their engagement, added: “I have things that I need to sort out and really, I want to keep that private life private, and sort those things out without that being in the public eye.”
The politician, who has three children from a previous relationship, added that he wanted to take time to decide his next move.
He stressed, however, that he was not ruling out a return to politics.
“I’m still a DUP member and supporter. I wish Arlene in her leadership and all our candidates in next year’s election the very best,” added Mr Kells, who was DUP MP Emma Little-Pengelly’s campaign manager during her failed bid to get elected to Stormont in 2016.
“I’m not totally stepping away from that. There’s no other reason other than I’ve some things personally to sort out,” he said.
“The honourable thing for me to do right now is not to sit on when I can’t give people who put their in trust in me and voted for me 100%.
“Let’s bring someone else who is equally capable, no doubt, and let them establish themselves before the election next year.”
Since his announcement the councillor said that he had been inundated with messages of support from constituents and his peers.
“It’s no exaggeration to say that over 1,000 people have contacted me to say that they are saddened to see I’m going, that I’ve helped them with x, y or z and hoped that it will be a short break from politics,” Mr Kells went on.
“Even a lot of people have commented publicly from my own party, local MLAs, Jeffrey Donaldson, who I’ve worked with before, I’ve had a really good bit of feedback.
“I’ve been really left overwhelmed by it.”
He has been in a relationship with Ms Martinez for two years now.
She recently announced on Facebook the pair had got engaged on the picturesque island of Saona, off the south eastern tip of the Dominican Republic.
Alongside a photo of her engagement ring and another of the happy couple together, she wrote: “On this magical island of Saona, this amazing man asked me to marry him. I said yes!”
Mr Kells split from his wife Desna, the mother of his three children, in March 2016.
❝ It’s no exaggeration to say over 1,000 people have contacted me to say they are sad to see I’m going