Fife’s “invisible councillor” has resigned two months after it emerged that he was living in Austria.
Arthur Morrison, the SNP representative for Kirkcaldy East, stood down on Friday claiming it had become “increasingly difficult” to balance his work as a councillor with that of his full-time job as a consultant in the semiconductor industry.
In August, it emerged he had attended only a handful of committee meetings, despite pocketing a salary of more than £16,000.
He has now issued a statement announcing his immediate resignation, in which he admits his position was impossible to maintain.
He said: “It has been a great privilege to serve as councillor for Kirkcaldy East and Dysart and I would like to thank the many individual residents and community groups I have worked with during my term of office.
“I would also like to thank my fellow councillors and council staff who have supported me in carrying out my duties.
“It has become increasingly difficult to balance the demands of my employment with the significant and varied demands of representing my constituents and I have decided that it is in their best interests for me to stand down.”
He declined to comment further when contacted by The Courier.
Despite recent interest in his attendance record, Mr Morrison was not present at either a meeting of the council’s central area planning committee on October 22 or Wednesday’s meeting of Kirkcaldy area committee.
He previously stated while he was not permanently based in Austria, he had been staying in a hotel for long periods when there on business.
Despite this, he maintained he was keeping on top of his work as a councillor and had been working abroad longer than expected due to delays in a project he was involved with.
He added he had not been expecting to spend such long periods away from Kirkcaldy when elected in 2012.
Since details of his attendance record emerged he had become something of a figure of fun among opposition councillors, some of whom referred to Mr Morrison as the representative for “Vienna East”.
His resignation will now trigger a by-election, which could be held in December but is likely to be early next year.
Labour ward councillor Kay Carrington believes the focus should now firmly be on the people of Kirkcaldy East.
She said: “We now need to ensure that we get someone elected that will put the time in and help people access the services that they’re entitled to. That’s the job.”