Nine quit in political storm
NINE Labour members – including serving councillors and a town mayor – dramatically resigned from the party at one meeting in protest at the actions of senior figures in Welsh Labour.
NINE Labour members – including serving councillors and a town mayor – dramatically resigned from the party at one meeting in protest at the actions of senior figures in Welsh Labour.
The group walked out of a meeting of the Llynfi Valley Labour branch in the town council offices in Maesteg last Wednesday, November 16.
It is understood there have been further resignations from the party’s local branch since then.
It means that for the first time since its inception in 1974, Maesteg Town Council has been taken out of Labour’s hands and into the control of independent members.
The group that resigned included two of Maesteg’s longstanding Labour borough and town councillors, Ross Thomas and Keith Edwards, who had already been deselected from standing for Labour in next May’s local elections by senior party members.
Maesteg Mayor Jen Terry and town and county councillors Wyn Davies and Phil John also resigned.
Town councillors Phil Jenkins and Lynne Beedle resigned, as did Lynne’s husband Tom and Ross’ dad Leighton.
The Llynfi Valley branch secretary Jeff Jones – a former Bridgend council leader – also resigned from his role as secretary in protest at Ross and Keith’s treatment, but he remains with the party.
In a letter to the branch chairman, which he read out at the meeting, Coun Thomas, 28, said the party, which he joined as a 16 year old, had deemed him ineligible as their candidate.
He said the reason for the decision was because two years ago he voted “with my conscience and against the group” when Labour-led Bridgend council wanted to open talks about merging with the Vale of Glamorgan council in contravention of Welsh Government policy at the time.
The merger fell at the first hurdle when it failed to gain government support.
Ross said: “I felt passionately at the time that the prospective merger was wrong for this community for a whole host of reasons, not least the significant risk it posed to continuing European funding, the difficulties with crossing health boundaries and the lack of consultation with stakeholders, including Maesteg Town Council.”
Fellow Maesteg town and borough councillor Keith Edwards was deselected by Labour for the same reason, as were three other Bridgend councillors – Gareth John, Edith Hughes and Martyn Jones.
A sixth councillor, Cleone Westwood in Cefn Glas, Bridgend, was deselected for a different reason.
The decisions by a Labour panel comprising former Welsh Government Chief Whip and former Ogmore AM Janice Gregory, former Bridgend MP Win Griffiths and trade unionist Jim Hancock, have sent a shock wave through the local party.
In his letter Ross accused the Labour Party of “double standards” and “unfairness”. He said both he and his colleagues had been treated harshly, while other Labour AMs who voted against government policy had not.
“That an appeals panelist can applaud the actions of those two AMs for having minds of their own, yet sit in judgement of us and find us guilty is a disgrace,” he said.
Ross thanked local members and residents for their support since the deselection.
But he said: “I have come to the conclusion, however, that enough is most definitely enough and that, following what I firmly believe to be grossly unfair and unjust treatment in a party that prides itself on fairness, my differences with the party locally have become irreconcilable.”
A Welsh Labour spokesman said: “It is always disappointing to lose members but we are proud of our robust and tough selection procedures that ensure only the very best candidates are selected. Our communities in Bridgend deserve nothing less.”
Jeff Jones said: “The whole way this has been handled has brought the Labour Party into disrepute.”
He called on Labour’s National Executive to “intervene and investigate”.
He added: “Nobody will forget about this in the valley. This will be the big issue in the Llynfi Valley in May.”