THE NORTH West branch has apologised for an administration issue which led to a councillor leaving Eden Council's Conservative group.
Eden Council member for Penrith East John Lynch has left the Conservative Party after 20 years, reducing the authority's group to 11 councillors.
Cllr Lynch told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that he felt "duty bound" to inform the council of his intention to serve as an independent after discovering he was no longer a member of the Conservative Party.
READ MORE: Eden councillor 'disenfranchised' after losing Tory membership to admin woes
After not receiving a ballot paper for the party leadership contest in July, Cllr Lynch called the Conservative Party base in Carlisle discovering he was no longer on record as a member.
He thought he was a fully paid-up member but it emerged the party had changed bank accounts and he does not feel he was properly informed.
Councillor Lynch said: “I didn’t leave the Conservative Party, the Conservative Party left me."
But Valerie Allen MBE, deputy chair of the North West Region Conservatives has said "every effort" will be made to bring Cllr Lynch back into the fold.
Councillor Allen, of Warrington Borough Council, said: "We are sorry to learn about Councillor John Lynch stepping down from the Conservative group on Eden DC due to an administrative problem and will endeavour to resolve this.
"John has been a valued councillor and member."
Cllr Allen said: "When the party leadership election was called there was an immediate audit of membership records to try to ensure that everyone who was paid up and entitled to vote, and only those who were entitled to vote, could take part in the ballot.
"That audit included an appeal and adjustment procedure so that we could correct any issues where someone who had been paying their subscriptions but not credited for it could be put back on the list. There were a large number of messages sent out to try to make sure any such cases were caught.
"Obviously, the appeal and adjustment process had to have a deadline to be completed before ballot papers were issued and it would appear that, most regrettably, the issue with Councillor Lynch’s membership was not discovered in time.
The Conservatives "hope to welcome him back to the party in the near future.”
READ MORE: Backlash grows over expulsion of Labour stalwart Alan McGuckin
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