Labour Councillor & Cabinet Member SUSPENDED In Cheshire, Placed Under Investigation

A Labour Councillor from Cheshire West and Chester who is also a Cabinet member, has had the whip withdrawn while an investigation is conducted into so-far undisclosed allegations.

Cllr Matt Bryan, Cabinet member for Energy, Green Spaces and Climate Emergency, was elected to represent the Upton ward alongside Labour councillor Sherin Ahktar.

However, his listing on the council website now states that he is a ‘non-aligned independent’, despite still being listed on the Cheshire West Labour party website.

A spokesperson for the North West Labour party said Cllr Bryan has resigned from the Cheshire West and Chester Council Cabinet “with immediate effect for personal reasons”. However, when pressed, they said he had had the whip withdrawn pending further investigation – but refused to reveal the reason for his suspension.

Chester Labour councillor Matt Bryan has been suspended by his party.

News of Cllr Bryan’s resignation comes after Labour councillor Gill Watson jumped ship just weeks after the May election.

Cheshire West and Chester Council then confirmed she had quit the Labour group and was now sitting as a ‘non-aligned independent’ for the Newton and Hoole ward in Chester.

Issuing a brief statement in relation to Cllr Matt Bryan, a Labour Party Spokesperson said: “Cllr Matt Bryan has resigned from Cheshire West and Chester Cabinet with immediate effect for personal reasons.”

This is a developing story. VoteWatch will provide an update in due course.

The Labour Party has been blighted by a string of suspensions this year, the most recent being the suspension of entire branches.

One of those branches to be suspended is the Leicester East CLP – one of its most problematic constituency branches – following claims of members violating the rules in the run-up to the next general election.

Senior sources have stated that the party’s headquarters is looking into the Leicester East constituency Labour Party (CLP), which has been represented by disgraced politicians Keith Vaz and Claudia Webbe.

Local party officials in the area were anticipated to select their next parliamentary party candidate over the coming months, but reports indicated that Labour headquarters is now planning to enforce a condensed candidate list.

It is believed that the party suspended the CLP in response to allegations that gatherings had been improperly planned to favour a certain group, most notably those who support Keith Vaz and/or Claudia Webbe.

The suspension was confirmed to the Guardian by a labour source who stated that the NEC has a responsibility to protect the integrity of CLPs, to make sure they are properly run in accordance with the party’s rules and procedures and may work completely, inclusively, and democratically.