BOLTON’S Conservative leader is facing a call from political opponents to resign after one of his councillors did not attend a community safety meeting for two years.

Labour’s Cllr Richard Silvester says that the revelation showed ‘shocking failings’ by Cllr David Greenhalgh to manage his party.

However, the Tory leader has hit back by saying that it is in fact the ruling Labour group that has a poor attendance record.

At Wednesday’s full council meeting, Cllr Silvester asked for the identity of the Tory member who missed the meetings, which Cllr Greenhalgh did not know.

As reported on Friday, it was later revealed that Heaton and Lostock councillor Cllr Colin Shaw missed the four meetings since June, 2016.

In a letter to The Bolton News, Cllr Silvester said: “I have to presume that Cllr Greenhalgh did not actually know the identity of his own group representative and more worrying still is that he had no idea that his group representative had not even attended a Partnership meeting for two years.

“I therefore have to ask the question, what on earth does Cllr Greenhalgh actually do as the Conservative group leader?”

He added: “I now call on Cllr Greenhalgh himself to resign as Conservative group leader. He has to take the ultimate responsibility for his group representative not attending the meetings.”

The Conservative leader, who represents Bromley Cross, said at the meeting that he was ‘appalled’ by the missed meetings and would remove Cllr Shaw from the committee.

He has also noted that Cllr Silvester chaired an Environmental Services Scrutiny Committee meeting in February which five Labour councillors — later accused of treating the process ‘with contempt’ — left early.

Cllr Greenhalgh said: “Unlike the Labour group and the leader of the council, who to this day refuses to accept any wrong-doing regarding Asons, I immediately acknowledged at full council that the non-attendance is unacceptable, and that the member will be replaced.

“I have furthermore instructed the chief whip, working with the group whip, to bring a full internal report to the group to ensure such an instance does not occur again.

“The Conservative group has a strong and proud record of attendance, unlike the Labour group, who earlier this year had five members leave a scrutiny meeting early, two of whom were in paid positions and specifically there to answer questions on decisions they had made.

“The words ‘pot’ and ‘kettle’ come to mind, but one thing that I have come to learn over my years on the council is the mantra the Labour Group live by: ‘do as I say, not as I do.’”

Cllr Shaw remains unavailable for comment.