One Tory expelled and another suspended after backing no-confidence vote in leader

Politics A councillor who called for the leader of West Sussex County Council to resign has been expelled from the Conservative group while another has been suspended.

Heidi Brunsdon (Imberdown) and Andrew Lea (Lindfield & High Weald), along with Joy Dennis (Hurstpierpoint & Bolney) and Andrew Baldwin (Horsham East), added their voices to those of opposition members who wanted a vote of no confidence in Louise Goldsmith in June.

The call was voted down but came after the council’s children’s services were rated inadequate by Ofsted in a damning report.

At the time, Mrs Goldsmith would not comment on the rebellion among the Tory ranks, saying: “In the end we have freedom to speak and if they chose to speak that’s their option.”

Now though, Mrs Brunsdon has been expelled from the Tory group, Mr Lea has been suspended for six months, Mrs Dennis has been ‘censured’ and we have been told that the fate of Mr Baldwin, who has been unwell, will be discussed at a later date.

Mr Baldwin had suggested that he and others had been removed from scrutiny committees because they were ‘not nodding donkeys and not afraid to ask questions’.

And Mrs Brunsdon said there was a ‘toxic culture of contempt’ at the county council for those who ‘speak up’.

The Labour group said Mrs Brunsdon and Mr Lea had been ‘punished for speaking out, at a time every councillor should be’, calling the action ‘over the top’ and ‘heavy handed’.

A spokesman for the county council said Mrs Brunsdon County councillor Andrew Lea has been suspended for six months while Heidi Brunsdon has been expelled

and Mr Lea would form the Independent Conservative Group, with Mrs Brunsdon as leader.

When asked about action being taken against the four and the reasons behind it,

Conservative group chairman Paul High said: “We do not take any disciplinary action lightly or readily.

“However when there have been serious breaches of group rules which resulted

in a number of complaints by group members it is incumbent on me to ensure these are fully investigated by the vice chairman in line with our group rules.

“We have notified central office and the south east area office as you would expect.

“After a thorough investigation the findings were brought to the Conservative group, after much consideration of all the information by the group this has resulted in decisions as follows.

“Heidi Brunsdon expelled. Andrew Lea suspended for a period of six calendar months until January 1 2020. Joy Dennis received a censure.

“I must stress that each person involved was given the option of a right of reply.

“This is a very rare event for this group but one that was deemed necessary by the Conservative group members.

“We now move forward, there is much work to do on children’s and fire and rescue services and a challenging budget to prepare, we need a period of stability and consolidation in order to focus on these important issues.”

He made no comment about Mr Baldwin.