The
Labour Party in Coventry has ditched its second sitting councillor within two weeks.
Councillor Tom Burke has been de-selected in the Woodlands ward after being censured by
party chiefs earlier in the year for his poor attendance at meetings. Two weeks ago
Councillor Christine Porch was de-selected in the Lower Stoke ward.
Neither will be allowed to stand as official Labour Party candidates at next May’s
local elections and they were not available for comment.
Councillor Burke, aged 49, a city councillor since 1991 was chairman of the environment
committee. The party whip was withdrawn in March after he failed to attend council
meetings. He was accepted back into the fold in September.
The official Labour Party candidate in Woodlands will now be a local car worker Jimmy
Boyle.
Lower Stoke will be contested for Labour by solicitor Phil Townsend, a former Bablake
School pupil in Coventry and now a governor at President Kennedy Comprehensive School in
the city.
