A Cheshire East councillor has quit the Independent Group after being suspended for re-joining the Conservative Party so she could vote in the Tory leadership contest.

It's the second time Cllr Sarah Pochin has been left in the political wilderness – two years ago she was booted out of the Conservative Group on Cheshire East Council after being voted in as mayor by the ruling Labour/Independent administration, who had rejected Conservative mayor-elect Steve Edgar.

In an email sent to Independent Group members following her suspension, Cllr Pochin said: "I took up membership of the Tory Party once again in order to be able to vote in the leadership election – a forgivable offence, I would argue, as there weren't enough sensible folk allowed to vote in that crucial election as it was."

She says she accepts she has broken the Independent Group's rules and 'take my fate graciously'.

It is not known whether Cllr Pochin voted for Prime Minister Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak MP. (Image - bit.ly/3KTWcfH Simon Dawson / No10 Downing Street Open Government Licence v3.0 Unchanged)

In the email, which has been leaked to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the Bunbury councillor adds she understands the Independent Group held an emergency meeting on Saturday to discuss the matter.

"I have to say I would not have classed my membership of the Tory Party as an emergency," she said, adding, had she been given the chance to attend, 'I could have offered to resign my membership of the Tory Party as I had achieved my aim of voting in the Tory Party leadership contest, but I was not given that opportunity'.

A statement released by the Independent Group over the weekend confirmed they had suspended Cllr Pochin because she re-joined the national Conservative Party.

Group leader Cllr Craig Browne (Alderley Edge) said: "It is with deep regret that the Independent Group has been placed in a position where, for the first time, we have had to suspend a member of our group. This is not a decision we have taken lightly; however, it is necessary to protect the integrity of the Independent Group."

Cllr James Nicholas, Bollington, Independent.

Deputy group leader James Nicholas (Bollington) said: "It is an inviolable principle that an Independent Group member cannot be a member of a national political party. It is incompatible with our ethos and this is clearly stated in our group standing orders."

The statement said Cllr Pochin, who was Cheshire East's mayor last year, was suspended following an emergency meeting, pending a disciplinary hearing.

She has also been removed as vice chair of the environment and communities committee and southern planning committee.

Earlier this year, a Conservative councillor for the Macclesfield area did the reverse of Cllr Pochin and quit to join the Independent Group.

Please click here to read that story.

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