Labour councillor resigns over treatment of former party leader
Jo Rust, Labour candidate for North West Norfolk at the last three general elections Picture: Chris Bishop - Credit: Archant
A trade unionist who fought three general elections as a Labour candidate has quit the party in protest at its treatment of its former leader.
Ms Rust said she was resigning from the party because of the way it had teated former leader Jeremy Corbyn Picture: Aaron Chown/PA Wire - Credit: PA
Jeremy Corbyn was suspended from Labour last month after claiming that the scale of anti-Semitism in the party was overstated.
He was reinstated as a member by the party’s national executive committee But his successor Sir Keir Starmer has blocked him from sitting as a Labour MP.
West Norfolk councillor Jo Rust, who has been a party member for 10 years, said she had resigned over the way the matter had been handled.
“I have left and am now sitting with the Independent Group,” she said.
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Ms Rust, who represents the Springwood ward, believes the way the matter was dealt with was in breach of Labour’s policies.
The Unite and GMB union member campaigned at the 2015, 2017 and 2019 elections.
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Conservatives retain their control of West Norfolk council, with 29 seats. Independents are the second-largest, with 14, followed by nine Labour, one Green, one Liberal Democrat and one Independent.
