Caradon Council leader Tony Powell resigned the post on Tuesday and quit the Lib-Dem group, describing his former party's stance on elections to the proposed unitary authority for Cornwall as an 'unprincipled farce'. Mr Powell, who was appointed leader when the Liberal Democrats swept to power on Caradon District Council after the May elections, had been taking part in a special meeting of the council called to discuss issues surrounding the creation of the new unitary authority. There were disagreements within the Lib-Dem ranks at Caradon over the approach to the timing of elections in the run-up to the creation of the unitary authority. After a vote at Caradon, Mr Powell said: 'My principles took over and although the decision to recommend May 2008 elections was won on the casting vote of Lib-Dem chairman Cllr Paul Adams, I felt I had taken part in an unprincipled farce in which, as a group, we had been led away from our core beliefs and values on the excuse that we were somehow acting in the interests of the electorate. 'I felt railroaded and decided that I needed to be able to act without restraint and to be able to speak my mind freely in the interests of those who elected me. 'This was the first time I had been asked to comply with a three-line whip and the fact that it was being driven from outside Caradon made me realise that at time you need to step back and reflect.' Mr Powell said he intends to remain on the district council and to retain his place on its Cabinet, but that rather than be told what to do and how to vote by county councillors, he will be sitting as an independent. 'Those who elected me should have no doubt that my own core values have not changed.'