Martin Winter, who has been directly-elected mayor of scandal-plagued Doncaster borough council since 2002, has been automatically expelled from the Labour Party after he set up his own party. Winter’s move comes because of restrictions in Labour Party rules which prevent directly-elected mayors from standing for more than two terms, when Winter wants to fight for re-election. With him went originally two cabinet members, but one has since recanted and remains a Labour Party councillor; Stuart Exelby has followed Winter out of the Labour Party.
Meanwhile outside God’s own county and in the south, Labour councillor Julia Wassell has joined the Liberal Democrats on both Buckinghamshire county council and Wycombe district council. This move leaves only one Labour councillor on Buckinghamshire county council (Chaudhary Ditta of Bowerdean, Micklefield and Totteridge division) and so Labour loses official group status.
A service provided by
Political and community consultation experts