THREE senior councillors embroiled in a love triangle were last night facing calls to quit their posts.

Cllr Keith House, Cllr Tonia Craig and Cllr Louise Bloom are all being asked to consider stepping down from their roles on Eastleigh Borough Council in the face of mounting questions over their conduct.

As previously reported by the Daily Echo, Cllr House, 49, is understood to have struck up a relationship with Cllr Craig, 43, who was promoted to join the borough’s eight-strong Cabinet – alongside Cllr House and his former partner Cllr Louise Bloom.

It is alleged that Cllr Bloom, who has not attended the last five Cabinet meetings, is refusing to attend meetings where her love rival is present.

Now the trio are facing calls to quit as questions are raised over whether the situation is affecting the running of the Liberal Democrat-run authority.

Daily Echo: Cllr Tony Hooke, deputy UKIP leader, said a cross-party meeting was being held on November 11 to come up with a plan to stop job cutsCllr Tony Hooke

Cllr Tony Hooke, who represents UKIP on Hampshire County Council, is calling for the trio to resign or put themselves forward for re-election.

Cllr Hooke called into question the judgement of Cllr House, who is paid £70,000 a year from the public purse for his responsibilities at both Eastleigh borough and Hampshire county councils.

He said: “The point of all of this is his judgement. Having a relationship with someone on the Cabinet and dumping them, and having a relationship with anyone that then comes on it, is incredibly poor judgement.

“His judgement here was absolutely flawed to allow this to go on. The only person who can put this right is him, he needs to stand down and have a by-election.

“I won’t rest until this goes to the polls. His position at this time is untenable.”

He also questioned whether Cllr Bloom should be allowed to draw her allowance if she is not attending meetings.

“She is on the Cabinet and not attending meetings and that makes me uncomfortable. If the people of Eastleigh want them to continue, then no problem.”

Cllr Bloom was unavailable for comment last night.

Cllr Craig did speak to the Daily Echo but refused to comment on any suggestion that she should step down.

She has already said that she was appointed to the position on the Cabinet “before anything happened” with Cllr House.

Minutes taken from an Eastleigh council Cabinet meeting in June confirmed that it was the first time Cllr Tonia Craig, who also represents the Bursledon and Old Netley ward, attended as health and community safety chief, taking over from Cathie Fraser, who is no longer a serving councillor.

According to the Hampshire County Council website, Cllr House, who is leader of the Lib Dem party for the county, is still registered as living at the same address in Hedge End as is listed for Cllr Bloom on the Eastleigh Borough Council website.

Daily Echo: Cllr Tonia Craig

Last night there was no reply or sign that anyone was at the smart detached residence.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Lib Dem party maintained a wall of silence in the face of increased pressure for the leadership to respond to the questions being raised.

The Daily Echo tried to contact Cabinet members but were unable to speak with Cllr Anne Winstanley and Cllr Steve Sollitt for a second day.

Cllrs David Airey, Suzy Hamel and Cllr Alan Broadhurst refused to comment.

Patricia Culligan, UKIP’s parliamentary candidate for Eastleigh, said the party should make it clear how members are elected to the Cabinet.

She said:“It doesn’t inspire confidence. If you have lost the confidence you need to put yourself out and explain those measures.”

Opposition Conservative leader Godfrey Olson had been unaware of the love triangle, though said he had been told Cllr Bloom was ill when he noted her absence at meetings.

Daily Echo: Cllr Godfrey Olson

Cllr Godfrey Olson

He said Cllr Bloom’s failure to attend meetings was a “cause for concern” and the issue needed to be resolved quickly.

“Whatever their personal relationship that’s a matter for them as far as I’m concerned, but if it affects attendance and performance of the task that they’re set as representatives of the people that’s a matter of concern.

“If the lady [Cllr Bloom] is not well then one has some degree of sympathy with that and one accepts that people do have illness.

“If it’s purely because of an internal personal dispute then I’m afraid in my book that’s not acceptable and needs to be resolved. She should stand down and someone should take her place.

“That’s an issue that the people of Eastleigh shouldn’t be supporting, shouldn’t be funding.”

He called on Keith House to make a statement to clarify the situation and “put people’s minds at rest”.

“It brings the authority into question,” he added.

“It would be better without it and for this issue to be on the front page rather than any achievements or successes, it does distract. It will raise a lot of questions in people’s minds. It’s not the sort of publicity Eastleigh wants.”

County council leader Roy Perry said he could only comment on Cllr House’s role as a county councillor.

He said: “I don’t see this impacting on his work as a county councillor – it’s a matter for Eastleigh Borough Council.”

Anti-tax campaigner Christine Melsom, chairman of the Is It Fair campaign for council tax reform, said: “I don’t know how it (the authority) is being run but I would have thought something has to be settled if the taxpayers of Eastleigh are paying allowances.”

Cllr House was present at Eastleigh Borough Council’s headquarters in Market Street yesterday but declined to comment when asked by the Daily Echo.

Eastleigh Borough Council said it would not comment on personal matters.