Councillors & such II

I did a post on Monday 27th July outlining my concerns about the way we are represented locally. On Friday evening our local paper did a story about one of our Labour Councillors in a ward not far from mine. Headline: - Absent councillor is told to stand down. I know this guy and believe him to be an honest and trustworthy man. He has represented the ward in question for a long time but never lived there. About 18 months ago he and his wife who was also a councillor moved to Aberdovey in north Wales a round trip of 220 miles. His wife’s term expired and she did not stand for re-election, he also promised to resign. It now appears that he has not done so. The demand for his resignation is coming from the Tories in the adjoining ward so no surprise there. But it does raise some issues. I don’t believe that he should be allowed to continue to draw his allowance and he should be forced to resign. No one can represent their constituents well from that distance unless they have a second home in the ward and I don’t believe that to be the case here. The one other factor that has not been considered is if the councillor is ill. If this is the case then his constituents and the rest of the council need to be aware of it. It only strengthens my argument that Councillors should live in the wards they represent. If this was the rule then when he left he would have had to resign.
It will be an interesting by-election though when it does happen. I know the ward and expect the Tories to make a major effort to win it. Do Labour and the Lib Dems have candidates with the ability to win this ward?
Perhaps this is another opportunity to play bonus and banana skins. Any offers to send me the leaflets when they start to come around?