Thanet councillor's commute from Central America

A TORY district councillor who divides his time between Thanet and Central America is facing calls to resign his position.

Cllr Stephen Broadhurst runs two security firms, one in the isle and one in Panama – but turned up to just a third of council meetings he was expected to attend during the last six months.

He was present at three of the nine meetings he was due to sit on, according to the district council’s website. He also failed to send apologies for two of the six sessions he missed.

Blogger Tony Flaig, who runs the BigNews Margate website, accused Cllr Broadhurst of not spending enough time in his Thanet patch to fully represent the interests of whose who voted for him.

Mr Flaig said: “I don’t think anyone expects their councillors to be at their beck and call, but they do expect them to be available when they need them, and I’ve heard from a number of people who are angry that they can’t get hold of him.

“I think it was said that in the age of email councillors could field problems from wherever they are, but I sent him an email more than three days ago and I still haven’t heard back.

“It just seems a bit much to me that he’s laid up in Panama rather than back here.”

Cllr Broadhurst’s colleagues have shrugged off the claims.

Fellow Dane Valley councillor and Tory whip Ted Watt-Ruffell said: “I have told Stephen that if he feels he cannot fulfil his duties as a councillor he should resign, but he replied that he felt he was able to do so. He does spend quite a lot of time in the UK, as he has a company here. He has met the attendance rule that councillors must go to at least one meeting every 26 weeks.”

Cllr Broadhurst, who has represented the ward since 1997, was unavailable for comment on the three times the Thanet Times tried to contact him. On the first attempt, it was said he was on holiday, on the second that his phone was broken, and on the third, that he had a chest infection.