By John Wimperis, Local Democracy Reporter: “Constant U-turns” by the government have led a councillor in what might be Labour’s safest council seat in South West England to leave the party.
Grant Johnson, who represents the former coal mining village of Paulton on Bath and North East Somerset Council, announced at the weekend that he would be quitting Labour to become an independent councillor. He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “If there was a different leader, maybe I would be making a different decision.”
He said: “It’s just the constant U-turns. And I don’t get a feeling there is any real strategic direction and Keir Starmer feels he knows what his vision is for the country.”
Mr Johnson said it had been a difficult personal decision which he had been thinking about for months. He said that most of his work as a councillor, such as being chair of Paulton, was not party political but that everything the Labour government did was seen as a reflection of Labour councillors.
He said: “I work in agriculture; I am an environmental sustainability manager. Two areas where they [the Labour government] have been disappointing is on climate change and what they have been implementing in terms of agricultural policy.”
He said: “I am happy to get on with my work locally. I haven’t got any ambition to go any further.”
But while he said he was disillusioned with Keir Starmer’s Labour government, he stressed his decision was not a reflection on the Labour group on Bath and North East Somerset Council. Mr Johnson said: “They are a really good great bunch of councillors. They are working hard for their respective communities.”
The group of now six councillors forms the opposition to the Liberal Democrat council administration. One councillor in the group is Liz Hardman, Mr Johnson’s fellow Paulton councillor who has remained in the Labour Party.
Paulton, which sends two councillors to Bath and North East Somerset Council, has only ever elected two Labour councillors since the council was founded. Mr Johnson believes the village is the safest Labour council seat in the whole of South West England. The next local elections are scheduled to take place next year. Mr Johnson said: “It would be quite the swing if I was able to get elected as an independent.”
He said: “I’d like to hope that people would see the work that I do in the community and place their faith and their vote in me to continue doing that. That’s the pitch I’ll make to voters.”
Independent councillors are not in political parties, but usually sit together as a group on the council so that they can be proportionally reflected on the membership of council committees. Unusually, Bath and North East Somerset Council has two rival groups of independent councillors: the Independent Group and Independents for B&NES.
Both have reached out to Mr Johnson to ask if he would like to join them. Mr Johnson said he was still considering the invitation from the Independent Group but that he had “absolutely no interest” in joining Independents for B&NES. It is a breakaway group which formed after the Independent Group refused to let Saltford councillor Chris Warren join due to “lack of clarity surrounding a controversial social media X account.” Mr Johnson said: “I wouldn’t join them in a month of Sundays.”
Labour group leader Robin Moss (Westfield) said: “We’re sorry that Grant has decided to leave the Labour Party, and the Labour group on B&NES. Unfortunately undoing 14 years of the Conservative and coalition governments’ mess means taking difficult and at times unpopular decisions in government. We would like to thank Grant for the work that he has done for the Labour Party and Labour group, and wish him well for the future.”
A spokesperson for the Independent Group said: “We’ve worked closely with Grant on a number of issues over the years, and he has consistently proven to be a dedicated and effective councillor for Paulton. We genuinely wish him every success and are pleased to offer the full support of the Independent Group as he takes the step to become an independent councillor — a decision we know will not have been taken lightly.
“Our experience is that independent councillors are often best placed to represent their communities, free from party pressures and able to focus entirely on local needs.”
Mr Johnson’s decision to leave Labour came just days after High Littleton councillor Ann Morgan quit the council’s ruling Liberal Democrats and joined the Independent Group. The makeup of the council is now 39 Liberal Democrats, six Labour councillors, five councillors in the Independent Group, three Greens, three councillors in Independents for B&NES, two Conservatives, and one councillor — Mr Johnson — as an independent not a member of any group.
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The journalists are funded by the BBC as part of its latest Charter commitment, but are employed by regional news organisations. A total of 165 reporters are allocated to news organisations in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland including Bath Voice. These organisations range from television and radio stations to online media companies and established regional newspaper groups. Local Democracy Reporters cover top-tier local authorities, second-tier local authorities and other public service organisations.
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