Suspended councillor has quit the Labour Party

SHERWOOD'S AJ MATSIKO RESIGNS OVER NATIONAL INTERVENTIONS

- By OLIVER PRIDMORE

A LABOUR councillor has resigned from the party and accused it of "taking away democracy" from the city council.

AJ Matsiko was first elected as a Labour councillor in Sherwood at the 2019 city council election, but was recently suspended by the party.

Although he could have eventually returned to Nottingham Labour after a six-month suspension, Councillor Matsiko has now decided to quit the party and will sit as an independent councillor.

It is understood his suspension centres on leaks of Nottingham Labour matters.

Councillor Matsiko has raised repeated concerns about the way the Labour Party nationally is intervening in its Nottingham group. The imposition recently resulted in Councillor Ethan Radford being re-elected as deputy council leader without Nottingham Labour councillors having a vote.