The leader of the Labour led Pendle Borough Council, along with 9 other of his Labour colleagues on the council, have joined 10 other Labour councillors from neigboring Nelson Town and Brierfield Town councils, in a mass resignation from the Labour Party this week.   The mass resignations of twenty Lancashire Labour councillors came amidst allegations that the NEC executive of the Labour Party has been targeting and deliberately deselecting local councillors or preventing them from standing in elections. The rebel councillors have pledged to establish independent groups in each of the boroughs.

Asjad Mahmood, The former Labour leader of Pendle Borough Council, now the leader of an independent group, commented that:

‘I, along with my colleagues, were elected by local residents to represent them in the council chamber. As a Labour Councillor, I have always felt that the party’s policies were aligned with my own beliefs and those of the constituents who have honoured me with their votes. Sadly, over a recent period, senior party officials have attempted to impose their ideas at a local level. I was elected to serve the public, not party officials’

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Mahmood, who has been sanctioned by the party for his outspoken views on Gaza and was a signature to a letter, just weeks into the conflict, demanding Keir Starmer’s resignation for his refusal to call for a ceasefire, added:

‘I have always felt that the party’s policies were aligned with my own beliefs. Sadly, over a recent period, senior party officials have attempted to impose their ideas at a local level. I was elected to serve the public, not party officials. Senior figures within the party are attempting to stifle free speech and threaten dedicated councillors with removal as candidates. I, for one, cannot stand by and allow this to happen. The bullying needs to stop’

The Labour Party’s response to the mass resignation, appeared to be somewhat subdued and one party spokesperson simply stated:

‘The Labour Party's focus is on winning the General Election so we can improve the lives of those we are elected to serve’

The Labour Party’s national campaign coordinator, Pat McFadden, commented:

'Everybody is allowed to have their own views and I fully understand why people feel really strongly about this issue. We saw what happened on October 7^th, we’ve seen what happened since then with tens of thousands of people being killed, and all the way through this we have said three things – a return of hostages, a ceasefire that lasts and a better future for the Palestinian people’

Speaking of the mass resignations in Lancashire, McFadden added:

‘If someone takes the decision to leave, that is something to be regretted, but what I am really focused on is the 2,000 plus Labour candidates who will be standing in local elections in a few weeks time’

The 20 Lancashire councillors will be added to the over 60 who resigned in November in the aftermath of Keir Starmer’s appearance on LBC Radio supporting ‘Israel’s right to self defense’ and the backlash which followed.

The Labour Party leadership will no doubt be reflecting on the implications of the loss of control of now four councils since the beginning of the Israeli/Palestinian Gaza conflict in October.