Moray councillor Christopher Price has revealed the reasons for his shock resignation.
Liberal Democrat Mr Price quit his role as member for Buckie in a surprise move that will spark a by-election.
His actions are just the latest drama to hit Moray Council in what has been described as a “shambolic” three months since the elections.
And now, Mr Price has spoken to the P&J about why he felt he had to stand down.
The travel clerk for the Ministry of Defence said he was struggling to balance his council duties with his full-time job.
But how did we get here? And how does it fit in with all the other problems at Moray Council?
And should he have known it would be too much to do a full-time job and be a councillor at the same time?
How did he get in?
Mr Price was the first Lib Dem to sit on Moray Council since before the multi-member ward system came into being in 2007.
He was one of only three candidates who stood in the ward, and as there were only three seats available they did not face a vote in the local government elections in May.
He stood down this week after 103 days in the job.
Why did he quit?
Mr Price said he was finding it difficult to balance his full time job with his council duties.
He felt it meant he was not giving the best service to the people of Buckie.
He said: “It was balancing the council work with a full time job, it was becoming difficult in the end.
“I’ve given it a lot of consideration and I wanted to do the best for the people of Buckie.
“I didn’t think it would be right not being able to give them more time, and it has been a really difficult decision.
“I certainly wanted to take the opportunity to be a councillor, and it’s a job I always wanted to do – maybe it was a little bit too soon.
While enjoying the job, Mr Price found it difficult to fulfil all his commitments.
He said: “I kept on top of a lot of the work, but I wasn’t able to get away for council meetings and sit on committees.
So why did he stand?
Mr Price said he wanted “to be there to give Buckie a voice”.
“I wanted to give it a good go because Buckie means a lot to me.
“But going forward I felt I was unable to commit to the role as much as I wanted to.”
“I’m really proud to have served the people of Buckie for this short period of time, and I wish all my fellow councillors all the very best for the future.”
Why was the workload a surprise?
Moray’s Labour Group Leader John Divers was not unsympathetic to Mr Price’s position, but thinks there is a problem.
He said: “Over the years I’ve seen many hard-working local councillors resign for entirely understandable reasons: whether it’s family, work, or health.
“This is the second council in a row, however, in which a councillor has resigned shortly after being elected because they didn’t realise what the job entails.
“In the medium term it’s clear that the council, and certain local political parties, in particular, need to do more to ensure that prospective candidates are aware of the requirements of the role.
“In the short term, if any other newly-elected councillors are having cold feet about the job I would urge them to go now, as well, so as to save the Council the cost of yet more by-elections down the line.”
What happens now?
Mr Price’s resignation will cause a by-election in the ward and comes after a chaotic three months for Moray Council.
After the elections in May the Conservatives were the largest group with 11 members and they made up a minority administration.
The rest of the 26 seats were made up of eight SNP councillors, three Labour, two independents, one Green and one Lib Dem.
Convener Marc Macrae left recently.
Since then co-leader of the council and the Tory group Neil McLennan left the administration after his colleagues held votes of no confidence in him.
Last week Conservative councillor for Heldon and Laich James Allan left the administration, leaving the Conservative administration with nine members.
If the SNP win the Buckie by-election it will bring their number in the council chamber to nine, equalling the Tories.
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