Cambridgeshire county councillor Jonas King has become the latest Conservative to quit the party to become an independent at Shire Hall. Elected as a Conservative county councillor for Huntingdon North and Hartford in May 2021, he now describes himself as ‘non-aligned independent’ on the county council website.
His resignation from the Conservatives is the latest in a series that has rocked the opposition Tory group at New Shire Hall.
Other Tories on the county council who quit the party – but stay on as independents – are Cllr Josh Schumann and Cllr Ryan Fuller.
Opposition leader Cllr Steve Count also lost another of his members, Cllr Douglas Dew, to the Lib Dems.
Sources in Huntingdon suggest two possible reasons for Cllr King quitting, one to do with budgets but the other his alleged displeasure at not becoming parliamentary candidate for Huntingdon at the next election.
The party has opted for Ben Obese-Jecty, but Cllr King is rumoured to have hoped he would have been selected. The party declined to re select incumbent MP Jonathan Djanogly.
One source told me: “I hear Cllr Jonas King has now resigned. He was angry at not being chosen to replace Djanogly he had set his heart on it,”
For a while Cllr King was the darling of the Conservatives locally.
“Jonas is extremely hardworking, has already started a number of community initiatives such as litter picking and will make a great councillor for Huntingdon North and Hartford,” the local Tory party trumpeted ahead of his election.
