A PROSPECTIVE Devon county councillor has criticised MP Rachel Gilmour, claiming she hasn’t fulfilled all her council obligations because of her two roles.

Ms Gilmour won the Tiverton and Minehead seat in the general election while she was still a member of Mid Devon District Council, and has held onto her Clare and Shuttern seat on the council.

Toby Gray, the Conservative candidate standing for Tiverton West in May’s county council elections, claimed that in the past 12 months, Ms Gilmour had only attended five out of 11 council meetings.

However, Ms Gilmour said she had always made the council aware of her absence in advance, is donating her councillor’s allowance and is stepping down from the district council in May.

“Rachel Gilmour is failing our community, and it’s costing us all,” Mr Gray said.

“The Liberal Democrats should foot the bill for this by-election themselves.”

A spokesperson for Ms Gilmour said having a by-election at the same time as the county elections would greatly reduce costs, and that any additional money needed to fund the Clare and Shuttern by-election would be paid for by the Lib Dems locally.

Andrew Moore, a resident of Mid Devon who was previously the council’s finance cabinet member and a former Conservative and then independent councillor, said: “It was obvious from the start that Rachel couldn’t do both jobs.

“Why didn’t she do the right thing and stand down from MDDC immediately? It shows poor judgement and is denying local people proper, democratic representation.”

A spokesperson for Rachel Gilmour said she is “committed to delivering for her constituents day in, day out.

“Often, the work of being both an MP and a local councillor go hand-in-hand, enabling a better understanding of the local issues that really matter.

“On occasion, council meetings unfortunately take place on days that parliament is sitting, and virtual attendance is not possible.”

The spokesperson added that Ms Gilmour had volunteered to donate her councillor allowance on the day she was elected as an MP, and that groups including CAB, Churches Housing Action Team (CHAT) and Mid Devon Mobility have been recipients.

Mr Gray had claimed the cost of the Clare and Shuttern by-election would be £10,000. However, Ms Gilmour’s spokesperson said there would be no financial hit to council taxpayers.

“The cost of a by-election to Mid Devon residents will be £0,” the spokesperson added.

“By retiring from the council at the same time as the county-wide elections, the staff and polling place hire costs are greatly reduced.

“Rachel has always committed publicly to providing the best representation and value for money to the residents she works for, and this is no exception.”

The spokesperson said that while there may still be a cost to having the Mid Devon District Council by-election on the same day as the county council ballot, the local Liberal Democrats were “covering what costs remain to ensure the democratic choice to elect Rachel to Tiverton and Minehead does not have any financial burden on the wider residents of Mid Devon”.

Bradley Gerrard