CALLING the Harraby North by-election by the Conservatives this week was a mark of disrespect according to Cumberland Council's Labour Group.

The vacancy arose following the sad loss of long serving councillor Cyril Weber (Harraby North, Labour) last month who died at the age of 78.

The Labour Group was expecting to be given the honour of calling the election, as cllr Weber had been one of their members, however earlier this week residents in the ward received letters from the office of John Stevenson, the MP for Carlisle, introducing Rob Currie as the Conservative candidate and effectively calling the by-election.

Council leader, councillor Mark Fryer (St Johns and Great Clifton, Labour) said, that by calling the by-election "the Tories have sadly thrown away a very longstanding mark of respect and convention that allowed the party of the deceased to call the by-election".

He added: "It was this, together with other examples of opposition groups using certain chair positions to further their own personal political aspirations, that led the Labour Group to take the decision to revoke the politically proportionate shared chairing arrangement agreed last year."

His statement relating to the "politically proportionate shared chairing arrangement" followed the annual meeting of the full council at the Civic Centre in Carlisle in Carlisle on Wednesday (May 15) where Labour voted en bloc to appoint members from the group to chair all the council's committees.

In response Mr Stevenson said: "The by-election was called last Wednesday. I am not aware of any protocol that would suggest any party has the right to call or not call an election.

"We have an excellent candidate in Rob Currie, who lives in the ward, has stood for election there before and wants the opportunity to make Harraby North an even better place to live. I am fully supportive of him."

And councillor Mike Johnson (Thursby, Conservative), the leader of the opposition as well as the Conservative Group, agreed with the MP and said: "Cyril’s sad loss was felt across the council.

"Any two electors can call an election where there’s a vacancy and I understand that has happened in Harraby.

"There is no procedure or precedent for any particular person or party to call an election. As much as the Labour Party would like to redefine democracy for their own ends, every resident deserves representation."