A COUNCILLOR has resigned from his party following a disagreement over its ‘Unite to Remain’ pact with two other parties.

Allan Todd, 70, announced his resignation on December 1 and is now considering giving up his position on Keswick town council.

He is upset with the Green Party’s ‘Unite to Remain’ pact, made with the Liberal Democrats and Plaid Cymru and the Green Party, which will see only one candidate from the three standing in 60 UK constituencies.

The idea is that it will help concentrate the Remain vote by joining together under one candidate. However, Mr Todd has a different take.

“In Copeland Green Party candidates are going to do nothing but come last, but they can take away anti-Tory voters from Labour,” he explained.

“In Workington [removing Green support in this constituency] it would help keep a sitting Labour MP. What I don’t want to see on December 12 is Boris Johnson with the largest number of seats in the election.”

He had called on the Green Party to stand down in seats where it is expected that only Labour will have a chance of getting more votes than the Conservatives - including in Copeland and Workington. However, the Green Party had a different view.

Having also been elected to sit on Keswick town council under Green Party values, Mr Todd is now also considering standing down as a councillor. The reaction to his resignation has taken Mr Todd by surprise.

“So far I have only had one [negative comment]. So many have been saying they understand my anger, saying they are not going to vote Green because they don’t want Boris Johnson to form a government.”

A spokeswoman for the Green Party said: “We’re sorry to lose Allan. He’s been a stalwart supporter but we understand his reasons.

“The decision to stand our candidates was taken by the group, with a ballot of members.”