East Riding council leader in row over pension fund cast into wilderness

East Riding council leader Stephen Parnaby, who was given an OBE for services to local government in 2007, is among 10 Tory councillors who may no longer be able to represent the party in local elections next year following a decision by the Conservatives' North and East Yorkshire candidates approval committee.

It comes months after the council was condemned for authorising a payment of 364,205 into a senior officer's pension fund, amid swingeing public spending cuts.

The councillors, who include deputy leader Jonathan Owen and three other members of the Cabinet, now have 28 days in which to appeal to their own associations.

A source said: "The pension was the spotlight which shone into the very workings of the Conservative group and it was also a dividing line; some people were on the right side and some on the wrong and the party watched and saw and realised that something had to be done."

Coun Parnaby, who has headed the authority since 1996, confirmed he was on the list and said it was his understanding 10 councillors in all were affected.

He made no further comment.

One of the councillors, Coun Richard Stead, said: "I am still a bit stunned by it all. I can't believe it."

Coun Stead said it was largely due to Coun Parnaby "that the East Riding is held in such high regard."

The local authority has been mired in controversy over the decision to fund the early retirement of former director of corporate resources Sue Lockwood.

The outcry led to Cabinet members being asked to reconsider their decision but even then only one voted against.

Earlier this year the council was also found to have breached its own procurement rules in the long-running saga over the awarding of a contract to a company led

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