A long-serving councillor has been deselected as the political parties in Brighton and Hove prepare for elections next May.
Councillor David Watkins, a Liberal Democrat representative for Brunswick and Adelaide for 11 years, has not been chosen to fight the seat in May.
His ward colleague Councillor Paul Elgood will stand alongside Brian Stone, a former councillor who has moved to the area from London.
Councillor Watkins was told that he spent too much time on his duties as a member of Brighton and Hove City Council and not enough time promoting his party.
He said: “I went into politics to represent those who elected me which I have always prioritised.
“I am being punished for putting the city and the residents who voted for me before the interests of the party.”
He praised Councillor Elgood with whom he has worked closely for 14 years but said: “I’m resigning from the Brighton and Hove Liberal Democrats but not from the party.
“I will move my membership to another area.”
However, he added that overtures had been made to him by another of the council’s political groups, but would not be drawn on his future plans within the city.
Cllr Watkins a former Mayor of Brighton and Hove, sat on Hertfordshire County Council from 1993 to 1997 before moving to Hove where he successfully won and defended twice the Brunswick and Adelaide ward for the Lib Dems.
He is a former deputy chair of the Hertfordshire Police Authority and chair of the Liberal Democrats on Hertfordshire County Council.
In the last year he has chaired the scrutiny panel on sexual violence, is deputy chair of the audit committee and sits on the council’s standards committee. He also sits on the licensing committee and is one of the council’s four corporate parents.
For the local community he is chair of the Cornerstone Community Centre as the council’s representative and sits on the steering committee of the St John’s Day Centre.
