Calls for MP to stand down from town council
House of Commons/Roger HarrisAn MP is facing calls to step down from her town council role after she appeared at a handful of meetings in the last year.
Michelle Scrogham represents the Town ward on Ulverston Town Council alongside her role as the Labour MP for Barrow and Furness. She attended three town council meetings out of 14 between April 2025 and this May.
Green Party councillor Judy Filmore said: "The busy MP that she clearly is, she has not got time to be on the town council."
Scrogham, who was elected to Parliament in July 2024, accused the Greens of "playing political games" and said she had helped to run the local Dickensian Festival and other events.
On 18 May, Filmore asked that the report on councillors' annual attendance be made public, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
The data, which was released on 21 May, shows that Scrogham attended in July, January and May.
The Greens said they raised this to highlight that people living in Scrogham's ward should be represented on the council.
Scrogham said: "I think the Greens who are keen to play political games with their motion on this are well aware of the work I put in.
"I'm proud to be Ulverston born and bred and I was incredibly honoured to be elected in 2023 to serve four years in this unpaid role."
Filmore, who represents the North ward, said the town council is "ultra local" and councillors being present is an "important thing".
She said: "It is a democratic issue. People in her ward deserve to have someone who turns up at council meetings."
