MP Gillian Keegan expected to resign as district councillor

The former cabinet member at Chichester District Council told the Observer she had been waiting for an alternative councillor to be found for her ward with a window from today until the start of March to step down.

She said it was ‘bizarre’ the timing coincided with questions about her district council attendance record, which she acknowledged had dropped to nearly nothing since she was elected.

She said: “I’ve been physically unable to get to meetings. There’s not the technology to dial in, I’ve asked about that.

“Instead I have regular meetings with the people at the council, Diane [Shepherd] and Tony [Dignum] and just had phone calls.

“I’ve got emails from the parish council chairmans to get anything specific, but to be honest the same issues come to me as an MP as in Chi.”

Laws governing councillors require attendance at least one meeting every six months but the main meetings for Chichester District Council