A Burntwood councillor says he will not resign after his latest blunder saw him forget to attend his own advice surgery for residents.
Cllr Thomas Loughbrough-Rudd, who represents Burntwood North at Staffordshire County Council, had organised the session at Burntwood Library on Saturday morning (14th May).
Residents who turned up to seek his advice on local issues were forced to go home after the former Conservative councillor failed to turn up.
He later blamed the error on getting mixed up over the dates he was due to be holding the surgery, describing it as a “newbie mistake” – despite him having been a county councillor since May 2021 and a member of other local councils previously.
It is not the first time the councillor has been left red-faced though.
He previously had to pay back £924 of taxpayer funding in instalments after receiving the cash for a tree planting project, only for an investigation to discover he had neither planted nor purchased any trees.
Cllr Richard Cox, who represents Lichfield Rural West on the county council, has made fresh calls Cllr Loughbrough-Rudd to “do the only right thing available to him” and resign.
But the independent councillor – who quit the Conservatives after he was suspended for six months in the wake of the tree planting blunder – said he had no intention of quitting.
“The fact that I forgot my own surgery is by far the daftest thing that I have ever done, but it is not something that I will ever repeat – I’m sure I’ll add it to the list of things people take the mickey out of me for.
“I believe in engagement, even if it is attacking and would meet at any time or place any resident or council group wishes to do so.
“I am not going to resign. I’m surprised that Cllr Cox chooses to comment, but that’s his right to do so and I respect it.
“I don’t believe in engaging in personality politics and I’m not going to change that view regardless of how vicious people are about me.”
Cllr Thomas Loughbrough-Rudd, Staffordshire County Council
The councillor had previously said he would follow up his resignations from Hammerwich Parish Council and Burntwood Town Council by quitting his remunerated post at Staffordshire County Council.
But after emailing the chairman of the council to inform him of his decision to step down, he revealed that he had been “talked out” of the move by someone close to him.
Despite failing to turn up to meet a number of residents who had visited the library to speak with him, Cllr Loughbrough-Rudd insisted he was working actively for local residents.
“I have spent hours and hours of my time helping local residents in the past week, ranging from a meeting in the Trident, at a resident’s home and checking out a road for a concerned person.
“I spent the rest of my time with a charity helping addiction in Lichfield and with my friend Dwain who has just had a baby. “
Cllr Thomas Loughbrough-Rudd, Staffordshire County Council
