Senior Tory loses seat in shake-up at Shire Hall
CUTS to county council numbers mean high-profile cabinet member Chas Fellows can't fight for re-election next year.
His Chalford division will be no more come May 2013 and he was beaten to the Conservative candidacy for the new seat, covering Minchinhampton and Chalford, by Minchinhampton and Nailsworth member Stan Waddington.
The Local Government Boundary Commission for England has cut the number of county councillors from 63 to 53.
Dorcas Binns, Tory district councillor for Minchinhampton, was elected unopposed to run for the new Nailsworth, Amberley, Woodchester and King's Stanley county division.
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With the hustings and party vote between the two held in Minchinhampton, Coun Fellows, cabinet member for economy and environment, knew the cards were stacked against him.
He said: "Myself and Stan both applied. He could have chosen Nailsworth because he represented that area too.
"He chose to represent Chalford and Minchinhampton and I chose to continue to represent the area I have done for 16 years.
"The vote was in Minchinhampton, which I did not have any control over, and Stan was selected, which was not a surprise to me because Minchinhampton is a big branch and Chalford and Thrupp is small."
Coun Fellows, who has also represented the Chalford ward on Stroud District Council since 1996, said he was "pragmatic" about losing the chance to represent Chalford again. He said: "Of course I am a little disappointed but the election was done fairly."
Coun Binns said she was surprised to get the candidacy for the Nailsworth division without an election. She said: "I expected someone to stand and I still had to go through the selection process and gave a presentation, showing what I had done."
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