A Tory councillor has resigned from the party after nearly 17 years of service saying he feels a bit useless and it is the end of a “stale relationship”.

The flagship Tory borough of Wandsworth has at least one dissatisfied member, James Cousins, who today announced his resignation in a blog post.

The Shaftesbury ward councillor also posted his letter of resignation to council leader Ravi Govindia in which he said it has been fascinating to witness change in the past four years, while adding: “Throughout those four years, and in the past few weeks in particular, it has become increasingly apparent that there is nothing I can offer.

“When we met some 18 months ago you told me that much of your thinking was driven by your need to plan for 2018 and beyond and that need can only get stronger as 2018 approaches. In that context you do not need dead-weight.

Wandsworth Times:

Blog announcement: "And so it ends. It’s not you, it’s me"

“Equally, I have come to realise that as much as I love being a councillor and serving residents, I have often felt constrained by my membership of the majority group.

“After lengthy consideration I have notified the chief executive that I wish to resign from the majority group.”

Mr Cousins has previously been outspoken about the council, accusing them of “groupthink” after he was sacked from the executive last year.

He is not the first councillor in recent times to depart the party. Last year Councillor Malcolm Grimston left the Conservative party amid concerns that Southfields Library could close.

He has been a Conservative councillor for Shaftsbury since 1998 and in eight years held a number of titles on the executive.

He finished his post on a deflated note and said: “And that’s it. No big issue, no flounce. Just sadness because I feel a bit useless and think I can do more for residents if I can focus on trying to help instead of my almost Pavlovian instinct to defend council policy (whatever I think of it).

“It really is like the end of a stale relationship.”