THE leader of the Liberal Democrats in Wiltshire has stood down from his role following an internal power struggle with the wider party which has left his position "untenable".

Jon Hubbard, who has been opposition leader on Wiltshire Council for six years, informed group members on Saturday that he would stand down — publicly stating financial pressure as the reason for his decision.

But in a party memo, seen by the Journal, he described how "when 85 per cent the battles you are fighting are internal battles not external ones then it is clear that something is very very wrong".

"It is my firm opinion that the role of a leader is to do just that — lead," he said in the email. "When a leader feels that they are no longer able to effectively do that then the time has clearly come for them to move on. Leading a council group within the Liberal Democrats requires two things, support from those within the group and support from those within the party.

"Whilst I have always felt confident of the former of these, the challenges of the later have been considerable throughout the past few years."

It appears the dispute came to a head over a meeting of party members which Cllr Hubbard had planned to use to identify potential new candidates for the 2017 Wiltshire Council elections.

But at the last minute the agenda was changed to include a talk from Sir Graham Watson, the former Lib Dem leader in Europe, who was scheduled to speak about the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) elections and the EU referendum.

He went onto say that Gavin Grant, chairman of the Western Counties Liberal Democrats, had instructed new members not to come to the meeting, without his consent, leaving him in a "untenable position".

Following Cllr Hubbard's decision not allow Sir Graham to speak at the opening of the meeting Cllr Grant said the event would viewed as a meeting organised "solely" by the Wiltshire Council group. In an email to constituency chairmen he said the wider party would host a separate meeting "that will cover the output of Saturday as well as these other important issues and more".

When asked about Saturday's meeting Cllr Grant denied he told members not attend the meeting saying as it didn't included the Swindon constituency party it couldn't be classified as a members conference. The PCC elections cover both Swindon and Wiltshire.

Saying the party needed to unite behind his successor Cllr Hubbard goes onto say his publicly given reasons for standing down would give "no hint of the internal issues within the party and instead speaks of me dealing with my own workload".

Speaking to the Journal, Cllr Hubbard did not deny infighting took place within the party, but reiterated the financial strain of being council opposition leader placed on him and his family. Saying he did 40 hours unpaid work a week he added the £1,500 a year he was paid for being group leader was among the lowest in the country.

"I can take great pride in what we have achieved over the past six years and the person who follows me will have my full support," he said.

"I have enjoyed my time as leader and I have had an incredible team that has been around me."