A former member of Bradford Council’s executive has quit the Conservative Party and vowed to stand as an independent candidate for his Craven ward seat.

Councillor Adrian Naylor resigned from the party this week after he failed to win re-selection with Keighley and Ilkley Conservative Association to defend the seat in May’s elections.

He remains as the Craven ward councillor and said he continued to support the Conservative Party nationally but repeated claims of a “stitch up” locally.

He failed to make it on to a shortlist of candidates in November and appealed against this, with the date for the appeal date recently set for later this month.

Keighley and Ilkley Conservative Association continued with the selection process for the ward, choosing Andrew Rowley as its candidate.

Coun Naylor said: “I’ve no quarrel with the national party. I support David Cameron with his attempts to manage the country given the state of the finances the last Government left and the worsening international situation.

“However, I have an issue with the small group of people who’ve delayed and manipulated the process and have not provided a proper explanation of why it has taken four months to hear my appeal.”

Coun Naylor, who lives in Silsden, said it was a “critical time” for the Craven ward, with Bradford’s Local Development Framework potentially bringing 2,900 new houses to the area, hitting the infrastructure and schools provision.

Leader of the Conservative group on the Council, Councillor Glen Miller, said the group leadership had already been recommending Coun Naylor’s suspension from the group this week, as a result of complaints over “group issues”.

He told the Telegraph & Argus: “Councillor Naylor resigned after repeated attempts to try to look into some complaints that had been raised against him.

“He failed to attend any meetings and subsequently the leadership team were left with little option but to recommend his suspension from the group.”

Coun Naylor actually resigned shortly before the group meeting on Monday when the matter would have been decided by a ballot, effectively putting an end to any investigation into the complaints, he said.

His resignation from the party also means that he is not entitled to appeal against the selection process for the Craven nomination.

Coun Naylor criticised the group leadership for “acting as judge and jury” when they had not discussed the matter with him and come to the conclusion without hearing both sides of the story.

Coun Naylor’s resignation puts the Conservative group further behind the leading Labour group on the Council.

Wharfedale ward councillor Chris Greaves also quit the Tory group in June amid accusations over a forged letter and the Conservatives now hold 27 seats to Labour’s 44.