My independence Day: Ex-Labour man reveals all on going it alone in council chamber
HOW does it feel to resign from major national political party, which you have represented as a councillor and supported for years, and declare yourself a local independent?
For Councillor Paul O’Neill it has brought conflicting emotions.
While he still respects many local councillors who remain in Labour party, which he has just left, he disagrees with the direction of travel from national leaders in London.
Furthermore, he comes from a family with a history of commitment to the party he’s left, going back three generations.
The Local Democracy service caught up with him to discuss the impact of his decision on relationships with other councillors and his future role in council activity, meetings and votes. So what are his future options? Are there other political parties he might join?
Or is he looking for a different party not yet represented on the council?
Coun O’Neill is now an independent for the ward of Up Holland near Skelmersdale.
West Lancashire Borough Council is currently under no overall control, meaning no single party has enough councillors to out-vote all the other parties.
In West Lancashire, the cabinet is made-up wholly of Labour councillors including the leader and deputy-leader.
The main opposition groups are the Conservatives and the local Our West Lancashire group, but there are also some independent councillors.
Coun O’Neill said he left the Labour Party because of his unhappiness with the party’s national leadership at Westminster, plus expulsions and resignations of members across the UK including neighbouring Liverpool.
He said he could no longer, with good conscience, continue to fund Labour as a paying member.
At Westminster, he thinks the Labour leadership has failed to be a strong opposition in many ways, ranging from Covid-19 to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. He also disagrees with Labour recently accepting Bury’s former Conservative MP, Christian Wakeford, ‘with open arms’ while keeping former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn an outcast.
He’s positive about the remaining West Lancashire Labour councillors, though: “I must emphasise that my resignation is not to do with any members of the West Lancashire group of Labour councillors, who I have a lot of respect for and wish well, going forward.
“We have also seen retrospective and, in my view, unfair expulsions and people believing they have been isolated and ignored.
“They feel they have no choice but to resign.”
QUESTION: Will your decision to leave the Labour Party and become an independent impact on your voting intentions at council meetings and, in turn, outcomes at West Lancashire Council?
Coun O’Neill: “As a socialist, I do not think that my voting decisions will differ much, moving forward.
“The local Labour group is trying to keep services for the borough as full as they are able to, following cuts to funding from the government.
“Also they are trying to generate money for the council through Tawd Valley Developments Ltd (TDVL) by building social housing, which I support.
Q: Have you had much feedback on your decision? How does it feel to sit as an independent in the council chamber? Lonely? Liberating?
Mixed feelings? And are you aware of any other like-minded councillors?
Coun O’Neill: “I have felt apprehensive and anxious about attending meetings since my decision.
“It was both a hard decision and a relief.
“To see the national [Labour] party suspend and expel so many good members and councillors, especially those on a retrospective basis for supposed support for proscribed organisations before the groups were actually proscribed, with an actual lawyer leading the party, is astounding.
“I could no longer provide tacit support by remaining a Labour councillor.
“I have received very little feedback from Labour members since my decision, other than a couple of brief conversations at meetings.
“I would like to thank Coun James Upjohn, who got in touch via a text message, to ask how I was and offer support moving forward, following the update on the council website.”
Q: Regarding political diversity and representation, what are your thoughts on the current multi-party landscape at West Lancashire Borough Council? Do you feel the current parties and groups (Labour, Conservatives, Our West Lancashire, Independents etc) fully-reflect the range of public opinion? Would you like to see other parties or outlooks represented at West Lancashire too - for example, Greens or EcoSocialists, such as at Lancaster City Council? Perhaps an independent socialist group?
Coun O’Neill: “I do not think that the council fully reflects the range of opinion in society.
“It still only has two choices really, with the Our West Lancashire (OWLs) joining with the Tories on recent decisions.
“I am also still unhappy at the way they denied Coun Maureen Nixon the opportunity to be Mayor last May.”
Q: Can you outline your own personal political history, links and motivations? Perhaps your family has links to political activity through different generations or your community has links to particular political traditions or trends?
Coun O’Neill: “I am a thirdgeneration Labour councillor, with my father and grandfather both having been councillors in the north-east of England.
“I have voted Labour all of my life and was enthused to join as a member in 2015 when I saw a party that might actually be able to make lasting changes to peoples lives. I became the constituency Labour Party secretary here in West Lancashire and was encouraged to stand as a councillor. Unfortunately, national politics did not bring about the change I’d hoped for.
“And then with senior national Labour figures reacting with pleasure at members leaving the party, I feel that the party, nationally, is further away from helping ordinary people now than it has ever been. My personal motivations have been wanting to help people. As I’ve grown older, I see how difficult life can be for some. I am fortunate in many ways. I thought that becoming a councillor at the local level and doing a decent job would be noticed by people.
“Then, I hoped, they would vote the same way in national elections, which would improve their lives.
“But at the moment, I do not see that the majority of people will benefit from a Labour government.”
Q. What are your plans or feelings about the future as a councillor? Would you consider joining another group in future? Coun O’Neill: “I have not given much thought to the future.
“I intend to see out the term as an independent councillor and have no plans to join any other parties or groups.”