A CONSERVATIVE city councillor has quit less than a year after being elected.

Tory and former UKIP MEP Jim Carver, who was only elected to Worcester City Council in May last year, has announced he has now quit the Guildhall saying changes in his work life means he can no longer commit to the role.

His successor will be chosen when voters go to the polls in local elections in Worcester in May.

Announcing his resignation, Mr Carver said: “As I approach new opportunities in my working life, I realise that I won’t be able to fulfil my council duties as I desire.

“Furthermore, standing down now, ahead of May’s local elections, saves an unnecessary expense or burden on the taxpayer, as my replacement will be elected at the same time as the forthcoming local elections in May.”

Alongside former UKIP candidate Owen Cleary, Mr Carver helped overturn the long-held Labour stronghold on two council seats in the Warndon and Nunnery wards in Covid-hit elections in May last year.

Mr Carver, who runs an umbrella making business, had also unsuccessfully run as the Conservative candidate in the city’s Rainbow Hill division for a place on Worcestershire County Council last May – losing out to Labour’s Lynn Denham.

The victory for Mr Carver in the city council’s Nunnery ward – which came 322 votes ahead of Labour - helped push the Conservatives towards an overall majority of one in the Guildhall cementing Tory chief Cllr Marc Bayliss’s position as council leader.

Speaking after the surprise resignation, Cllr Bayliss said: “Jim has been a valued colleague whose life is taking him in a different direction, and he doesn’t wish to be unable to give his councillor role the attention he knows it requires.

“I respect his decision and wish him the best of luck in the future.”

Mr Carver served as one of the West Midlands MEPs for UKIP from 2014 until he quit the party in 2018 before finishing the final year of his five-year term as an independent.

Worcester MP Robin Walker said: “I know that Jim has worked hard on behalf of local residents and I wish him well for the future.”