THE UK Independence Party group on Tendring Council has been dissolved after a defection left it with just one councillor.

The Tendring district has been seen as Ukip’s heartland and Clacton was the first constituency to elect a Ukip MP.

Former MP Douglas Carswell defected from the Tories to the Eurosceptic party before triggering a by-election in 2014.

In winning the seat, he put pressure on former Prime Minister David Cameron to hold the Referendum on the UK’s membership of the European Union in 2016.

The party had seen 22 candidates elected to Tendring Council in 2015, just one fewer than the Conservatives.

Despite Mr Carswell quitting Parliament and declaring it was “job done” following the vote to leave the EU in the Referendum, the party still won five seats at the district council election in 2019.

Gazette: Douglas carswell

Former Clacton UKIP MP Douglas Carswell in 2014

The council was left in no overall control following the vote, but the Conservatives clung to power after gaining the support of Ukip, which was rewarded with two seats in the council’s cabinet.

But following a series of defections and a resignation, the group dwindled to just two members.

James Codling, group leader and councillor for Clacton’s Bluehouse ward, has now also defected from Ukip to join the Tories.

It means Coppins Green councillor Peter Cawthron is the only Ukip councillor left on the council.

Local Government rules require a political group to have a minimum of two members, which means the Ukip group has automatically ceased to exist.

Neil Stock, leader of the Conservative-run council, said: “Without a doubt, Ukip and Nigel Farage - as its former leader - were a big influence on British politics.

“In Clacton, where they elected one of their only MPs, they were a massive force in local politics and local Government.

“The fact we have managed to attract many of them to join our group shows how much we have managed to put politics aside in Tendring to run the council for the good of residents, which is really rewarding for me personally.

“Ukip will always have their place in the history books, but following the EU referendum, we have all moved on.”

Jaywick Ukip councillor Nicola Overton was automatically disqualified last year, but a by-election to replace her has been delayed until May due to the Covid pandemic.

By law, a councillor must attend a council or committee meeting at least every six months, otherwise they will automatically be removed.

Mr Cawthron and Ukip had not responded at the time of going to press.