A Reform councillor who tried to resign from her role over a lack of training has backtracked after sending her letter to the wrong council.
Christine Duffy was elected to Newcastle-Under-Lyme Borough Council at the local elections in May, part of a significant surge in support for her party.
But on August 4, she submitted a letter of resignation to Kidsgrove Town Council.
According to BBC News, the letter said she was choosing to step down from the job because she had received ‘very little or no training for this role’.
The notice was subsequently passed to the relevant official at Newcastle-Under-Lyme Council – but in the meantime, Duffy had decided she wanted to withdraw it.
Duffy previously sat on Kidsgrove Town Council, but left in October 2024 and has not been a member since.
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In a post on the Reform UK Newcastle-Under-Lyme Facebook page, she said she was ‘appalled’ that her letter had ‘somehow been obtained by the Kidsgrove Independents’.
She argued it was ‘now being exploited for party political purposes’.
Duffy continued: ‘My position could not be clearer. I remain a Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Councillor for the Town ward and will continue carrying out the role I was elected to do.
‘I hope this brings an end to the speculation and political games surrounding this matter.’
Gordon Mole, the chief executive of Newcastle-Under-Lyme Borough Council, told the BBC that Duffy would continue to sit on the council after withdrawing the notice.
He said: ‘If a councillor wishes to resign then they must follow a specific process as set out in the Local Government Act 1972.
‘In this instance a letter was hand-delivered to an incorrect address at Kidsgrove Town Council.
‘By the time it was received by me, as the proper officer, I had been notified that the content of the letter had been withdrawn and the councillor concerned continues to serve as a borough councillor.’
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