Choppington councillor quits Labour Party in solidarity with North of Tyne Mayor Jamie Driscoll

Cllr Mary Murphy, who has represented the Choppington ward since 2021, left the party barely an hour after Mr Driscoll announced his own resignation in the hope of standing as an independent candidate in the mayoral race for the new North East combined authority.

Cllr Murphy explained that she had immediately wanted to show support for Mr Driscoll following the announcement, but knew party rules would prevent her from doing so. It was at that point she chose to resign.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Cllr Murphy said: “The thing that has kept me from resigning previously is I stood on a Labour ticket, and I do not take lightly that I am walking away from that.

“But, if I cannot speak out on the things that I think are important, or campaign on the things I think local people need, what is the point of me being there?

“This is nothing personal against Scott (Labour leader Cllr Dickinson) or the Labour group, he is a good leader, although we have some political differences.

“I saw Jamie Driscoll’s statement and I was inspired by it. That is the campaign I want to get behind.

“For me, it is all about the bigger picture, not about individuals. I think Jamie has proven himself as a mayor, his record is really good.”

Cllr Murphy also spoke to reassure residents in the Choppington ward that she would continue to work hard for them as an independent councillor.

She said: “Anti-social behaviour and toxic waste in the area: those are the things that I will continue to work on. For people in the local area, that is what is important.”

Mr Driscoll was blocked from standing to be Labour’s candidate for the election, with party insiders suggesting the snub was down to the left-wing mayor sharing a platform with film director Ken Loach, who was expelled from Labour over allegations of antisemitism.

Police and Crime Commissioner Kim McGuinness was selected as Labour’s candidate for the job on Monday, fending off competition from former MEP Paul Brannen.

Cllr Murphy felt that if the membership had been given a vote on whether to select Mr Driscoll, she would have been able to back the winning candidate.

She continued: “We had the opportunity to put it to the membership. If the membership had decided I would absolutely be supporting Kim, but they never had that opportunity.”

Responding to Cllr Murphy’s resignation, a Northumberland Labour spokesperson said: “This is a personal decision for Cllr Murphy. The people of Choppington voted for a Labour county councillor in 2021 to be part of the positive change we offer for Northumberland and our battle to hold the Conservatives to account.

“Cllr Murphy will now sit as an independent councillor. All positions previously held, including those on the combined authority, will be filled with strong Labour opposition councillors.

“This will not distract us from holding this council to account. We cannot agree with Cllr Murphy’s position but clearly, such deep-rooted support for an individual over the Labour Party must be followed through and she has done that.”