Stevenage councillor Lizzy Kelly quits Labour over Prince Philip joke

Lizzy Kelly represents Bedwell ward on Stevenage Borough Council

A councillor who tweeted a joke about the Duke of Edinburgh's death on the day he died has quit the Labour Party after an investigation was launched.

Lizzy Kelly, who sits on Stevenage Borough Council, asked if there would be a "space free at the Windsor's beer garden".

The Labour Party told her it had identified a complaint and launched a probe.

Ms Kelly said she no longer felt welcome in the party.

The councillor, who represents Bedwell ward, has since made her Twitter account private and did not respond to a request for comment, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The notice of investigation she was sent by the Labour Party included two screenshots of her personal Twitter account which formed the basis of the complaint.

The beer garden query was sent about 20 minutes after the Duke of Edinburgh's death was announced on 9 April.

Liz Kelly said she had cancelled her membership of the Labour Party

The Labour Party said it had "identified a complaint about [her] conduct that requires investigation pursuant to the Labour Party's rules", adding it was "important that these allegations are properly investigated".

In her response, also posted online, Ms Kelly said: "Those are indeed my tweets. I was unaware being royalty was a protected characteristic so didn't realise I was in breach of any rules.

"In any case, this notice of investigation is the last in a series of things which have made it clear that I, as a socialist, am no longer welcome in the Party."

She said she had cancelled her membership and criticised the party for investigating "random joke tweets" amid alleged "inaction" on transphobia and Islamophobia. 

Ms Kelly was elected to the council in 2018 and has said she will serve her constituents as an independent until her term ends in May 2022.

In a statement, Stevenage Labour said: "We understand that councillor Kelly has decided to leave the Labour Party, although she has not yet had the courtesy to formally advise us of that decision.

"We would strongly suggest that as she was elected for Bedwell under the banner of the Labour Party she should, in all conscience, now resign her seat and allow the people of Bedwell to elect her replacement."