The coalition between ex-Labour rebels and independent members on Liverpool Council has given itself a name.
The new eight-strong political grouping, formed when five Labour councillors formally resigned from the party after being suspended when they voted against the annual budget and paired with three other ex-party members, has confirmed it will be known as the Liverpool Community Independents. The fledgling band of former Labour councillors is made up of Cllrs Alison Clarke, Rona Heron, Joanne Calvert, Alfie Hincks and Alan Gibbons, alongside existing independent members Anna Rothery, Sam Gorst and Sarah Morton.
The group has renamed its social media account, formerly known as Suspended Liverpool Labour councillors, and is calling on residents in each of the councillors’ respective wards for their support. In a pair of tweets, the group said: “The Liverpool Community Independents group does not have the resources or membership of the main parties behind them.
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“With your support, we can make real change. #getinvolved”.
The move to create a new group still leaves their former party with comfortable control of Liverpool Council, with two thirds of the seats on the local authority held by Labour. Their numbers could be bolstered if the party holds onto a seat in Fazakerley vacated by another budget rebel, Lindsay Melia, who resigned as a councillor last month.
Cllr George Knibb, who joined the ‘rebels’ in voting against the budget in March, has not opted to join the group but did leave the Labour Party after breaking ranks. Yesterday, Mayor Joanne Anderson expressed her and her party’s disappointment at the group’s decision to go it alone.
She said: “The Labour Party is always disappointed when members choose to leave the party, but my focus is on the people of the city and delivering the services they deserve.” A war of words broke out between Mayor Anderson and the group when they first defied the party whip when the Mayor claimed they had done “what they wanted to do for their own reasons, I doubt they were all about the budget.”
Cllr Alison Clarke hit back at the allegation and said: “We weren’t being rebellious just for the sake of it. We acted in a way that aligns with our socialist values.”
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