A county councillor has dramatically resigned, citing differences of opinion and her inability to ‘fit in with Epsom and Ewell’s Lib Dem party’.
Stella Lallement stuck the knife in to former colleagues at Surrey County Council and the local Liberal Democrats as part of a round robin email yesterday announcing her resignation from the Epsom West seat.
As part of the email, she said: "It has been a pleasure to work with some of you..." and went on to state the decision was made to resign as county councillor and leave the Liberal Democrat party "due to my current personal circumstances and differences of opinions."
A by-election will be held in due course to elect a successor to the job.
Mrs Lallement said in the message: "I am too liberal, too independent, open to other people's views no matter which party they belong to, eager for democratic debates and reform to be able to fit in with the Epsom & Ewell Lib Dem party.
"Party membership entails conformity and, as I was not willing to compromise on certain principles, I decided to leave the Lib Dem party and resign as a county councillor."
Brazilian-born Mrs Lallement was elected to Surrey County Council in May 2013 but has been present in only one council meeting in 2015, which was back in March.
In a scathing email to her fellow councillors she said: "I would like to thank my Lib Dem colleagues at Surrey CC for their continued support. Hazel is a good liberal leader. Lib Dem councillors are genuinely interested in doing the best for the residents they represent and are acknowledged for their hard work."
Conservative county councillor Tim Hall said: "It's always sad when a councillor falls out with their party.
"But it’s obvious the Liberal Democrat party in Epsom and Ewell has now totally collapsed and is no longer a viable election winner in the borough.
"The elections in May saw the Liberal Democrats come fourth in Epsom West. So any by-election will be a fight between the Jeremy Corbyn-led Labour Party and Chris Grayling's Epsom Conservatives and the mostly Ewell dominated Residents Associations."
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