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# Burntwood councillor suspended by Conservative group says he will not resign
- URL: https://lichfieldlive.co.uk/burntwood-councillor-suspended-by-conservative-group-says-he-will-not-resign/
- Published: 2021-12-10T10:34:26.000Z
- Updated: 2021-12-10T10:34:36.000Z
- Description: A Burntwood councillor suspended by his own party over concerns around funding he received says he will not resign.
- Author: Lichfield Live
- Tags: Burntwood, Politics, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-07-22 19:15, News

![Cllr Thomas Loughbrough-Rudd](https://storage.ghost.io/c/e3/90/e390c3da-0866-4d2a-8ffe-ca4999d7ce1c/content/images/lichfieldlive-co-uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/loughbrough-2.jpg)

Cllr Thomas Loughbrough-Rudd

A Burntwood councillor suspended by his own party over concerns around funding he received says he will not resign.

Cllr Thomas Loughbrough-Rudd was [given a six month suspension by the Conservatives](https://lichfieldlive.co.uk/burntwood-councillor-handed-six-month-suspension-by-conservative-group-over-funding-for-tree-planting-project/) at Staffordshire County Council.

Burntwood Town Council’s Tory group also confirmed they would mirror the exclusion period.

The ban came after he received £924 for a tree planting project at Chasewater from the Climate Change Fund at Staffordshire County Council, only for it to emerge that no trees had been bought or planted.

Cllr Loughbrough-Rudd said he was not planning to resign over the issue.

> “While I fully respect the decision taken, my suspension is something that I have to come to terms with and I will be doing a lot of thinking on how things have progressed to the way that they have.  
>  
> “I intend to stay on as an independent councillor – and I won’t rule out remaining so for the rest of my term as a councillor.  
>  
> “Resigning – at least from the county council – is something I would not consider.”  
>  
> Cllr Thomas Loughbrough-Rudd

Cllr Loughbrough-Rudd said that he could see “one advantage” to the decision by the Conservative groups to suspend him for the next six months.

> “It has been tough for me to watch things that have happened nationally and not be able to comment with the outright frustration that I feel.  
>  
> “One advantage of my current predicament is that for the next few months I will have the ability to express myself more freely and frequently than I have done before on the matters in my division of Burntwood North.  
>  
> “Of particular concern to me are issues regarding Stables Way, the regular flooding in Chase Terrace, mental health treatment locally, our local disability services and a review of where grit bins are located.”  
>  
> Cllr Thomas Loughbrough-Rudd

Staffordshire County Council said the measures were being put in place for the money awarded to be returned, although no details about how or when have been revealed by either the authority or Cllr Loughbrough-Rudd.

A Conservative group spokesperson said a review was now being carried out and [could see the matter referred on to the police](https://lichfieldlive.co.uk/councillor-at-centre-of-funding-controversy-becomes-an-independent-at-burntwood-town-council-after-tory-suspension-at-county-council/).

But Cllr Loughbrough-Rudd said he had spoken with the monitoring officer earlier this week and that there “was no current investigation” into his conduct.

## “A greater dignity than perhaps I deserve”

The Burntwood North representative said he had received help from political colleagues during recent weeks – but said others would judge whether he had been let down by some sections of the Conservative party.

> “I would like to express my personal thanks to those in the party who did support me, especially the chairman of the association and my predecessor as branch chair who have shown me a greater dignity than perhaps I deserve.  
>  
> “Whether I was let down or not, I will leave up to those better qualified than me to judge, but I don’t deny that my wider political thinking has been changed dramatically during this.  
>  
> “I will never look at things the same way I did before this ever again.”  
>  
> Cllr Thomas Loughbrough-Rudd