Former MP quits Labour in council budget row

Laura Smith was MP for Crewe and Nantwich between 2017 and 2019

Former Crewe and Nantwich MP Laura Smith says she has quit the Labour Party after being suspended by the local Labour group on the council she serves.

Ms Smith, a Cheshire East councillor, posted on her Facebook page to say she was suspended for not voting with her party to support a council budget she described as an austerity budget.

She said quitting Labour had not been easy but it was the right move for her, adding she would continue to serve her Crewe South ward as an independent.

The Labour Party said the budget to which Ms Smith objected was credible and sensible.

No party has overall control at the local authority, but it is run under a joint administration of Labour and independent councillors.

Ms Smith was MP for Crewe and Nantwich from 2017 until 2019, when she lost out to Conservative Dr Kieran Mullan.

In September 2018 she made headlines by calling for a general strike at a Labour conference fringe event.

Having objected to proposed budget cuts, Ms Smith said she could not be a hypocrite by voting to push them through.

“It is for that reason, and after much consideration, I have decided to resign my membership of the UK Labour Party, rather than appeal my recent suspension letter by the local Labour group at Cheshire East Council.”

'Too good for them'

Among those to respond to the news of Ms Smith’s departure was recently-elected Rochdale MP and former Labour member George Galloway.

He said: “All I can say to you is you are way too good for them. Time to go.”

Ms Smith said representing her home towns as MP was something she had not felt would be possible.

“That two and a half years in Parliament was an experience that I will always cherish and struggle with in equal measures," she said.

“The stark reality of our political system is one that I cannot pretend hasn't made me more cynical, less hopeful for a real alternative and unfortunately more worried for the future.”

'Finger-wagging'

She said she had felt judgement within the Labour Party for not being able to attend meetings or carry out door-knocking due to her responsibilities as a working mother.

“I have heard the tutting and watched the finger-wagging and listened to the comments and I think that it unfortunately remains the case that to be valued in the party you need to have lots and lots of free time,” Ms Smith said.

A spokesperson for the Labour Party said: "Under Keir Starmer's leadership the Labour Party has changed fundamentally. The Labour Party is no longer a party of protest."

They added: "The Conservatives have slashed council budgets, hitting vital services after 14 years of cuts. Despite the cuts, the Labour Party in Cheshire East has set a credible, sensible and deliverable budget which protects services and the most vulnerable.”