Labour to withdraw from Alliance for Wealden
Labour is withdrawing from the cross-party alliance running Wealden District Council.
On Monday (November 2), the national Labour Party confirmed it has instructed its councillors to withdraw from power-sharing agreements involving the Green Party on 11 local authorities.
They include Wealden District Council, where two Labour councillors are part of the Alliance for Wealden — a cross-party coalition, which has been running the council since May 2023.
The split comes after the national Green Party agreed a controversial policy motion at its conference in Brighton, which described Zionism as a form of racism. However WDC’s Green Party Group had already made it clear they did not agree with this policy.
In a statement sent to the LDRS on Tuesday (November 3), Labour Party chair Bridget Phillipson said: “The Labour Party exists to deliver for communities across the country at all levels of government. Any local power sharing arrangement cannot come at the expense of upholding the moral obligation we have to stand up for everyone in our communities and the values we share.
“Labour has been clear from the start that the ‘Zionism is Racism’ policy crosses a line and we cannot work with any party that supports it — at any level of government.”
The council’s Green Party and Liberal Democrat groups responded to the announcement with their own statement.
In it a spokesman for Wealden District Council’s Green Party group said: “As we said in our open letter to local residents last week, we were saddened when the Labour group leader on Wealden District Council was instructed by his party to issue us with an ultimatum.
“This was about the ‘Zionism is Racism’ motion passed at the Green Party conference. In that letter we made it clear that we do not agree with that policy — unlike the Labour party we are permitted to publicly disagree.
“Despite that, the two Labour councillors who were part of the Alliance for Wealden have been instructed by their party to leave the Alliance.
“It is ironic that a Labour prime minister, who made a promise to solve problems, not score points, has now shown he is willing to disrupt well-run councils for fear of Green success.”
The statement also included a quote from Liberal Democrat group leader James Partridge.
Cllr Partridge, who is also co-leader of the overall council, said: “It is very, very sad that the national Labour party has decided to use an international issue pointlessly to force division in so many local councils.
“Wealden Liberal Democrats’ priority is to continue delivering competent, stable, and accountable local government for Wealden residents, as we have been for three and a half years.”
Conservative district and county councillor Michael Lunn said Labour’s withdrawal came as “no surprise” to his group.
Cllr Lunn said: “While national political point-scoring and ideological divisions have brought these arrangements to an abrupt halt, it is the local residents who are left to face the fallout.
“At a critical time when councils should be focused on delivering core services, balancing budgets, and managing everyday essentials like waste collection and town centre regeneration, these administrations have instead descended into chaotic minority governance.”
With 23 out of 45 councillors remaining in the group, the Alliance for Wealden maintains a slim majority despite the withdrawal of the two Labour councillors.