Councillor 'troubled' by Labour leaders defects

A BRISTOL councillor has defected from the Labour Party and joined the Greens after being “deeply disappointed” with the party's national leadership.

- ALEX SEABROOK Local Democracy Reporter

Councillor Alsayed Al-Maghrabi criticised Labour for “enabling genocide and echoing Reform’s divisive rhetoric on immigration”.

His defection means that the Greens now have exactly half the seats on Bristol City Council and are one councillor away from a majority.

The Greens currently rule the council with the Liberal Democrats, after falling two seats short of a majority in the local elections last year.

Zack Polanski, the leader of the Greens nationally, welcomed Cllr Al-Maghrabi and said Labour members across the country were turning away from a party that “upholds the status quo of austerity, inequality and division”.

Cllr Al-Maghrabi, who represents Frome Vale, said: “I joined Labour seven years ago to fight for fairness, compassion and social justice. Sadly, I no longer recognise those values in the national Labour Party. Over time, it has become apparent that the party left me, rather than the other way around - making myself and many others on the left in Labour politically homeless.