Councillor resigns after council tax arrears and missed meetings

Saturday, 22 February 2025 08:30

By Robbie Macdonald

A Pendle councillor has resigned after it was revealed he owed thousands of pounds in council tax and had missed meetings.

Tom Ormerod was a Conservative councillor for Colne’s Vivary Bridge ward until his resignation, which was announced yesterday by Pendle Council in an email to other councillors.

Earlier this week, it was revealed that Tom Ormerod owed £3,835 in unpaid council tax to Pendle Council across three years. Also, he had attended just three council meetings since being elected in May 2023.

The details came from Lib-Dem Coun David Whipp in a press statement, and he called on Tom Ormerod to resign over the issues. He said the Tory councillor had missed 27 council meetings that he should have attended. Coun Whipp also asked questions about why the Conservative Party had chosen him as a candidate ‘who was £1,700 in arrears at the time of his election’.

On Thursday Paul Preston, Pendle Council’s democratic services manager, sent an email to councillors, which has been seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service. It read: “Tom Ormerod has resigned as a councillor on Pendle Council with immediate effect.”

Pendle Council confirmed the resignation to the media on Friday morning.

Mr Ormerod and Pendle Council’s Conservative group have been contacted for comment by the Local Democracy Reporting Service. No comments have been received so far.

The Vivary Bridge ward in Colne already has one by-election due following the resignation of another Pendle Conservative councillor – Kieran McGladdery – after he claimed his group failed to back stronger taxi-safety measures at a council meeting in December.

Now with Tom Ormerod’s resignation, a second by-election is expected but a date has yet to be confirmed.