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Disappearing Donald’s law could force Fife-based councillor from constituency 400 miles away

Donald Adey
Donald Adey

A Fife-based councillor dubbed Disappearing Donald could be forced out of his job from more than 400 miles away.

Donald Adey represents the Cambridgeshire village of Trumpington on both the local county and city councils, despite living in Cupar.

He has so far defied calls for him to quit but his councillor colleagues are now joining forces in a bid to get him out.

They have pledged to form an all-party coalition to bring in legislation nicknamed “Disappearing Donald’s law”.

Mr Adey moved to north east Fife last year, claiming he wanted to leave England because of Brexit and the right-wing nature of some individuals.

The former Lib Dem councillor quit the party but still sits as an independent on local authorities.

He claims he can still effectively represent his constituency, which is a seven-hour drive from his home, using the phone, internet and Skype.

He only has to turn up to meetings every six months to claim £4,500 in annual allowances from the city council and more than £10,000 from the county council.

He was the only one of 61 county councillors not to give up 1.2% of his pay in solidarity with local authority workers who had the cut imposed on them.

Mr Adey, who is originally from Scotland but lived in Cambridgeshire for more than 30 years, has said he will stand down from his city council role next month.

But Cambridge City Council leader Lewis Herbert has called on him to “do the decent thing” and resign from both posts.

“Otherwise  you leave Trumpington without proper representation on the county council for more than two years and pocket another £20,000 that could be spent on protecting services under threat,” he said.

Mr Adey insisted the distance between his home and constituency did not affect his ability to do his job.

“There are many councillors who do not live in their constituencies who are extremely effective,” he said.

“I would say I am far more productive than a number of my colleagues in England.”