A Salford councillor who was elected to a second seat more than 150 miles away is to resign. Lib Dem Chris Twells won Tetbury with Upton in Gloucestershire earlier today, despite already representing Ordsall.
The double candidacy led to Salford Mayor Paul Dennett to call on Coun Twells to 'do the right thing and resign'. Candidates can legally stand in more than one area but they must have lived or worked in the area in the 12 months before being nominated, or be registered as a local government elector for the area.
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Coun Twells told the BBC he was delighted to have been elected to represent Tetbury with Upton, but would now be resigning from Salford council.
He said: "I would like to thank everybody who voted for me. I will be taking some time off over the weekend and speaking to the chief executive of Salford City Council to establish what action I need to take to resign as a councillor, to allow for a by-election to be held in my ward."
Questions were raised about Coun Twells' candidacy before the election, but voters in Salford were told it was 'much ado about nothing' by Alex Warren, another Salford Lib Dem. "His name is on the ballot paper as a paper candidacy because the Lib Dems were struggling to fill their slate," he said last month. "He will not win."
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