FORMER Conservative leader of Maldon District Council (MDC), Councillor Adrian Fluker, is no longer a member of the Tory party, it has emerged.

The profile for Councillor Fluker on MDC's website was updated yesterday (Tuesday, 20 July) to reflect the fact that he is now an Independent 'non-aligned' councillor - so not part of the Independent Group on the council, either.

It is not known how it has come about that Cllr Fluker, who represents Southminster ward, is not now a member of the Conservative Party and the local association has declined to specify the reasons for his departure.

Linda Pailing, Chairman of Maldon Constituency Conservative Association, said: "I can confirm that Councillor Fluker is no longer a member of the Conservative Party. I have no further comment to make."

Cllr Fluker resigned suddenly as leader of MDC in August last year. He was later censored by the council following the publication of an independent report that found he had deliberately humiliated a gay councillor over a period of time.

On 1 October last year, a meeting of MDC's full council barred Cllr Fluker from serving on any of the authority's committees or working groups for 12 months. He also received a letter of censure signed by MDC's chairman as part of the sanctions against him.

The sanctions came following the decision of the council's Joint Standards Committee on 3 September that Cllr Fluker had broken the Code of Conduct when he was leader.

Cllr Fluker has been approached for comment, but had not responded at the time of publication of this article.