Sunday, April 20, 2014

Former whip quits Leicester's ruling Labour group

Last week Barbara Potter, until recently the whip of the ruling Labour group on Leicester City Council, resigned from the party.

The Leicester Mercury reported that she announced her resignation in a letter to the East Midlands Labour Party and will seek re-election as an independent next year:
In her letter, Coun Potter, who will now sit as an independent member, wrote: 
"I regret this action but feel I have been given little choice. "I have been a staunch Labour Party supporter for all my adult life."
She said she had never felt prouder than when she won her seat for the party in 2007, but added: "It is not me who has changed, it is the party, and not for the better.
"I hope that the Labour Party will change but I feel that it is losing its direction."
It is fair to say that Potter has been a controversial figure for some while. She had previously stepped aside from the Labour group because she faces a charge of perverting the course of justice arising with a dispute with a former partner - a charge which she denies.

She has also been banned from a primary school in her ward and in November 2011 she announced her support for the death penalty:
"Bring it on. Give these murderers the option of the noose, the electric chair or lethal injection."
Leicester's Labour establishment has reacted to her resignation with characteristic generosity:
A Labour group source told the Mercury: "Coun Potter is abrasive and I'm glad she is going. 
"She thinks everything is about her and she has an overinflated opinion of how popular she is.
"She thinks she'll win as an independent. She's not got a chance."

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