Leader faces twin attack for him to go

Byron Rhodes, county councillor and leader of Melton Council, has proposed a vote of no confidence at the county Conservative group meeting.

And Labour group leader on Melton Council, Matthew O’Callaghan, has launched a petition on the county council’s website calling for the council to remove Mr Parsons if he fails to resign.

The calls came after Mr Parsons was found to have broken the councillors’ code of conduct because he held on to money he should have repaid to the authority.

Dr O’Callaghan said: “The two actions are not coordinated but it’s clear Mr Parsons should do the decent thing and resign. The Standards Committee ruled he breached the code of conduct on five grounds and disregarded four of the principles of public life – honesty, integrity, accountability and leadership.”

After the standards hearing Mr Parsons issued an unreserved apology and a statement saying he had paid all outstanding amounts.