Conservative Brian Riley should resign his position as county councillor by 20th March

In April this year Mr Riley plans on moving to America whilst still retaining his seat on the council and collecting the £10,273.74 a year it pays, although Mr Riley plans on travelling back every six or seven weeks to deal with council work. He is quoted as saying " he did not feel it would be possible to remain a member of a district or parish council while living abroad because they deal with “nitty-gritty” issues." “But as a county councillor my role is more strategic and I don’t think it will be a problem doing my work from Raleigh.”

I personally wholeheartedly disagree with Mr Riley, I do not see how he can serve the Hadleigh Community at best while some 3,966 miles away. What we need is someone on our door step that is easily contactable when they're needed, yes there is skype and what not, but there are many people in Hadleigh that do not have internet access, and/or prefer to have face to face talks in person. I think the actions of Mr Riley are detrimental to the local community of Hadleigh.

Mr Riley should resign by March 20th to allow a by-election to happen the same time as the general election, otherwise he will keep that position until 2017. Its about doing whats right for the people of Hadleigh, and staying on whilst living in America does not meet that criteria.