Ely councillor removed from East Cambridgeshire District Council

An Ely councillor has been kicked off East Cambridgeshire District Council after failing to turn up to meetings for six months.

Matthew Downey had been an unaligned councillor representing the Ely East ward.

Mr Downey was elected to represent the ward as Liberal Democrat councillor, but was removed from the group earlier this year.

The district council has now announced that Mr Downey was removed as a councillor under Section 85 of the Local Government Act 1972 after not attending any authority meetings for six months.

The authority has said a by-election will not be held due to the vacancy happening within six months of the scheduled local elections.

A new councillor for Ely East will be elected during the full council elections due to take place in May.

Responding to the district council’s decision, Mr Downey told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “I’ve had very bad health over the past year, both mental and physical. I’ve been diagnosed with depression and anxiety on top of my Crohn’s Disease. I’m glad that my council membership has come to an end.”

In 2021, Mr Downey was sanctioned for calling a group of Conservative members “racists” during a debate on the Black Lives Matter movement.

As a result of an external review Mr Downey was required to provide a written apology to Cllr Anna Bailey - the leader of the council - and undergo training in relation to “good political debate”. He was a Liberal Democrat councillor at the time.