A total of 18 current elected councillors in Liverpool are set to quit the local authority.
A dramatic night at Liverpool Town Hall heard that a large number of elected members will be stepping down ahead of the local elections in May. Some of them are leaving by choice - others are not.
Prior to the meeting former Deputy Mayor Ann O'Byrne had already announced that she would be quitting the council. Cllr O'Byrne was named as a central figure in the ECHO's 16-month parking fines investigation and found to have had 17 parking tickets rescinded by officers between 2015 and 2020.
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That same investigation found that former cabinet member Cllr Barry Kushner had seven tickets cancelled in that time, the second highest amount of those named. After an interview Labour told the Norris Green councillor that he would not be allowed to stand for the party again.
Cllr Kushner indicated that he had appealed the decision but at last night's meeting he hit out at the Labour appeal process and confirmed he would in fact be leaving the council in May. He made clear he was not doing this through choice and took a swipe at the Labour Party, who he said had not allowed him proper representation and had arranged his appeal hearing to clash with tonight's meeting.
As well as these two departing councillors, the meeting heard that a further 16 elected members will be leaving the council when their current terms are up in May.
This includes three quarters of the Green group on the council, with St Michaels councillors Anna Key and Stephanie Pitchers and Greenbank councillor Lawrence Brown all set to retire from office. The only Green councillor not to be leaving is leader Cllr Tom Crone and he paid tribute to Cllr Brown, labelling him a "great councillor and a thoroughly decent bloke."
On the Labour side, Cllr Kushner and O'Byrne will be joined by Cllrs Clare McIntyre, Tony Concepcion, Ros Gladden, Calvin Smeda, Pam Thomas, Carol Sung, Sue Walker, Pauline Walton and Helen Thompson in leaving. Former Labour cabinet member Abdul Qadir - who was linked to a stalled development in a different ECHO investigation - has now resigned from the council.
Current Lord Mayor Roy Gladden will also be stepping down from the council when his year as the city's first citizen ends in May. He received warm words from all political parties for his time in office and as Lord Mayor, with new Labour leader Liam Robinson describing him as the father of the chamber.
Other councillors set to leave the chamber in May include Liberal Democrat Barbara Mace and Community Independents member Sarah Morton.
In another dramatic moment, city centre councillor Maria Toolan announced during the meeting via Twitter that she was resigning from Labour to sit and stand as an independent.
In a stinging attack on the Liverpool Labour group she said: "The last four years as a member of the Liverpool Labour group has served as a wake-up call as I have experienced and witnessed the lowest and most dishonest that politics has to offer. It has been traumatic. Life within Labour has most definitely damaged my health and left my faith and trust in the party - both as a member and as a woman - in tatters."
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