A group of rebel Liverpool Labour councillors who broke the whip to vote against their party's budget have officially resigned from the party to form a new political group on the city council.
Five city Labour councillors will join with three elected members who previously left the party to form a new independent opposition grouping on the council. It is a move that was widely rumoured to happen after the rebels were suspended by the party for refusing to back its city budget plans in February.
The new grouping will include councillors Alison Clarke, Rona Heron, Joanne Calvert, Alfie Hincks and Alan Gibbons. They will join together with councillors Sam Gorst, Sarah Morton and former Lord Mayor Anna Rothery - who all previously left Labour.
READ MORE: Labour Party kicks out rebel Liverpool Councillor
All eight councillors voted against Mayor Joanne Anderson and the ruling Labour group's annual budget in February. They stated that they refused to back further cuts to the city.
Cllr Gibbons, a key figure in the rebel group, has already been expelled from the Labour Party. On Sunday the ECHO revealed that the Warbreck councillor has been kicked out over what Labour said was a show of support for a proscribed organisation. Cllr Gibbons said the timing of the move was 'suspicious.'
Two other councillors who chose to vote against the Labour budget in February will not be part of the new group. Cllr George Knibb has already quit the party and Cllr Lindsay Melia has resigned as a councillor altogether.
Earlier this month, the suspended members gave Labour an ultimatum to resolve their cases by today or they would resign. As no response was forthcoming, the members are officially cutting ties with Labour and will band together as a formal opposition group. With eight councillors, the group are four short of the Liberal Democrats, the current official council opposition.
In a statement, the eight-strong group said they would look to establish a partnership with “like-minded representatives on the council” and issued parting shots at their former party.
Knotty Ash ward member Cllr Alison Clarke said: “I was not elected to make life more difficult for the residents of Knotty Ash during a cost-of-living crisis. I was not elected to cut social care, charge for green bins or raise reserves from £20m to £30m.” She added: “Reserves are meant for a rainy day and when the cost-of-living crisis is predicted to be worse for households than the 2008 financial crash or the Covid pandemic, it’s definitely raining.
“I expected more from the Labour administration in our city and it was with immense sadness that I was forced to realise that I could represent Knotty Ash more effectively as an independent councillor with the ability to act according to my conscience and my socialist values rather than the flawed Labour whipping system.”
Warbreck Cllr Alan Gibbons said the group had been “brought together by opposition to the cuts in the annual budget.” He added: “Over the next year, we need to see an approach based on community wealth-building and social investment.
“The people of Liverpool can’t afford another cuts budget. I don’t think any of us wanted to be in this position. We all started in the Labour Party, inspired by the vision of a mass member-led democratic socialist movement. Those are still our values.”
Old Swan councillor Rona Heron said “the local Labour Party has disappointed me and failed to challenge the national Labour Party to represent our city accordingly," while Cllr Joanne Calvert, the daughter of former Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson, said it was “in sorrow not anger” that she resigned the whip.
She added: “The principles and values of the Labour party in Liverpool has been weakened by the unnecessary decision taken to increase financial reserves by £10 million, the basic tenet of the Labour Party of protecting our residents has been seriously damaged, the budget passed has increased charges and cut services to vulnerable people. For Labour to increase costs and cut services at this time is politically and morally wrong and unforgivable."
The new members were given a warm welcome by their new colleagues as former Lord Mayor Cllr Anna Rothery said she personally welcomed “the opportunity to work with new and former colleagues to form an opposition group that will stand on our merits, fight for what is fair and right for our city and defend our people.”
Cllr Sam Gorst added that an expansion of the independent grouping was “inevitable” as the Labour Party has “changed beyond recognition.”
The opposition grouping is yet to meet formally, decide on any individual roles or a group name. They are expected to meet in the next few days to iron out the direction they wish to travel in and how they will work together to scrutinise the ruling Labour group.
The new grouping, while significant, will not have immediate electoral ramifications, with Liverpool a notable exception from next month's local elections. One of the results of last year's damning government inspection of the council is a move to all out elections, with every council seat up for grabs next May.
Those elections will be held amid a radical redrawing of the city's electoral map, with the current system of thirty wards, each represented by three councillors being replaced with a likely 71-ward set-up of mainly single-member areas. Against this backdrop, the newly independent councillors could have a key impact in what are expected to be much tighter individual seat battles in 2023.
