Full list of Broxtowe councillors intending to quit Labour Party

The full list of local councillors confirmed to have announced they are leaving the Labour party as part of a rebellion in Broxtowe has been revealed for the first time. On January 2 a group of Broxtowe Borough Councillors, led by council leader Milan Radulovic, publicly announced 20 Labour members would step down from the party over policy.

The group also included deputy leader Greg Marshall, who had previously been the party’s parliamentary candidate in Broxtowe before being replaced by Juliet Campbell, who went on to win the seat in the July 2024 General Election.

The announcement brought national attention on unrest within the party in a week the Government faced criticism over policy, and was even referred to in a social media post by US billionaire and Labour critic Elon Musk.

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However, no full list of names was provided by the group at the time, and all of those present remain listed as Labour councillors on the council website as of Thursday (January 16). The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) has clarified the names of those who intend to stand down from Labour – there are currently 18.

Besides Cllrs Radulovic and Marshall, direct confirmation with the LDRS and announcements on social media show the councillors who have said they are stepping down from the party are Vanessa Smith, Teresa Cullen, Helen Skinner, Shaun Dannheimer, Sarah Webb, Pauline Smith, Katherine Harlow, Ross Bofinger, Gabrielle Bunn, Colin Tideswell, Stephen Jeremiah, John McGrath, Sue Paterson, Chris Carr, Robert Bullock and Ken Woodhead.

However it is up to individual members to formally cancel their memberships to a party. The group say they will remain on the authority as independent councillors.

Speaking at the announcement, Cllr Radulovic said the Labour Party had blocked Cllr Marshall for parliamentary selection ahead of the 2024 General Election and claimed 10 members had been blocked from standing for Labour in the upcoming Nottinghamshire County Council elections because of their questioning of the Government’s winter fuel policy.

It is understood Councillor David Bagshaw and Councillor Susan Bagshaw were also both part of the group set to step down from the Labour Party on January 2.

Councillor David Bagshaw told the Local Democracy Reporting Service they have both decided to remain in the Labour Party for now. Cllr David Bagshaw, speaking on behalf of both of them, said: “We’re going to remain in Labour at the moment.

“Things might change but at the moment we will stick with what we have - it may not be the Labour Party we originally thought of, but we’re quite happy to see where it goes at the moment.”

Cllr Teresa Cullen said: “We can confirm that two councillors who were involved in the planning for the split to the Broxtowe Independents have decided for deeply personal reasons that they can’t join us just yet.

“It has been an extraordinary difficult decision to make and we absolutely support their decision. We were friends and colleagues before and we still are.

“Discussions are ongoing and numbers on both sides are very fluid, the door is still open for any councillor to join us. Since launching we have had hundreds of messages of support and we remain focused on continuing to delivering for our local Broxtowe residents as many of us have done for 40 years”

It is understood the Labour Party was not officially informed by the group of Broxtowe councillors they were leaving the party before the public announcement.

A Labour Party spokesperson said: “While Labour councillors continue to focus on serving the people of Broxtowe, this group of independents can’t even get their paperwork in order. It is not fair on voters who just 18 months ago put their faith in these councillors to deliver for our area.

“We will continue to get on with the job, listening to our residents and working alongside the Labour government to deliver our Plan for Change.”

Broxtowe Borough Cllrs Andy Cooper, Will Mee, Peter Bales, Helen Faccio, Ellie Winfield and Tyler Marsh were not part of the group announcement and are understood to remain in the Labour Party.