Two councillors took down Labour’s majority on Cheshire West and Chester council in June. One of them, Jimmy Shannon, spoke to the Canary following the decision.

‘A right-wing, neoliberal party punching down on working-class people and disabled people’

He had stayed in the Labour Party through a belief that, “if you ever wanna change something, then you’re better off being a part of it”. However, he struggled to continue in the organisation because of it “punching down on working-class people, disabled people”, and older people. He added:

I feel sad because the Labour Party has been a massive part of my life, my mum’s life, my grandma’s and my granddad’s life. And we’re all trade unionists.

But under Keir Starmer, he said, Labour has “pulled away” from the trade union movement.

I don’t recognise the Labour Party anymore… I didn’t leave the Labour Party. The Labour Party left me.

Keir Starmer calls it his party. It was our party. Now it’s his party. It’s now a right-wing, neoliberal party. And I can’t be part of that as a working-class man and a trade unionist.

Now he has left the party, he stressed:

I can say what I want. I can be myself.

In a message to people still holding on to Labour, he said:

The Labour Party has been ingrained in our communities for generations. But politics isn’t the same as it was generations ago…

How many people have actually got faith in Keir Starmer as the leader of the Labour Party and as the leader of the country?

 

Cheshire West and Chester: seeing through Labour

In a press statement following his resignation, Shannon asserted:

I joined [Labour] to fight for real, systemic change — for a fairer society where workers, families, and the vulnerable are protected, not punished. But this Labour Government has instead doubled down on Tory-style austerity: from scrapping and then backtracking on the Winter Fuel Payment, to planning brutal disability benefit reforms, and keeping the cruel two-child benefit cap.

He added that Labour had “abandoned its roots”, and that “the inspiring work being done by the Collective to unite the left across Britain” gives him “real hope”.

Collective and others have been in talks about creating a new left-wing party for many months, and there was a very positive response on the left to Zarah Sultana’s announcement last week that she was leaving Labour to play a prominent role. There are many other independent voices around Britain who are part of these efforts too, and have been organising, setting up structures, and fielding candidates since at least 2024.

Elizabeth MacGlashan, who also left Labour in Cheshire West and Chester, agrees that Labour is “a party that no longer represents the working class or most vulnerable in our society”. She also laments its downfall, but now looks forward to having “the freedom to speak out and vote with my conscience”.

Featured image via the Canary

By Ed Sykes

This post was originally published on Canary.