A CONSERVATIVE councillor has slammed the former leader of Salisbury City Council's Conservative group after she resigned yesterday. 

Cllr Eleanor Wills, who was the parish councillor for Harnham West, is stepping down after just over a year in the job in order to move to Swindon. 

Cllr Wills, who was only elected as leader of the Tory group in February of this year, said she was leaving "without any regrets". 

But a fellow Conservative, who wishes to remain anonymous, has criticised her decision, saying "I hope the next councillor for Harnham West takes their responsibilities more seriously."

Read more: 'I leave with no regrets' - City councillor stepping down after just over a year

They added: "Politics should be about public service, not self-promotion. All the Conservative Party members from across Salisbury and Wiltshire who gave up their evenings and weekends to support her by-election campaign last year will be very angry and upset that she is selfishly throwing in the towel."

In her resignation statement, Ms Wills said: "I still think you pay too much council tax. I still think that there is work to be done to revitalise our city, and the current administration running Salisbury City Council is woefully out of touch". 

She also said she thinks city councillors find it "too easy to blame Wiltshire Council for everything without demonstrating sufficient leadership by putting genuine alternatives forward which offer our city its best possible future". 

The city council has informed Wiltshire Council of the resignation, and it awaits further instruction from the unitary authority on how to proceed, so a date for a possible by-election is not yet known.