NEWS CHANNEL
City councillor Liz Campbell has quit the party saying she will sit as an independent for her Denbigh ward onMK Council.
Cllr Campbell sent an email to Labour group leader Norman Miles on Friday, copied to all councillors, outlining her reasons for resigning the party whip.
The 40-year-old mother of four, whose seat does not come up for re-election until 2012, also sits on West Bletchley Council.
She claims ‘bullying and intimidation by some Labour Party members’ made her ill last year.
She accuses the local party of excluding her from meetings and for being victimised after whistle blowing.
Labour Party organiser Kevin Wilson said the resignation is deliberately timed to inflict maximum damage.
A member of the Labour party since she was 24, she has represented three different wards on Milton Keynes Council for the last ten years.
She told MK NEWS: “I’ve been victimised because I raise public interest issues.
They say I haven’t been doing any work but I’ve been speaking to residents and highlighting concerns. I have loved being a councillor and my work won’t change one iota. I think it can be a very tough environment when you’ve got children and for women in general.”
The Labour party dismiss claims of bullying or victimisation.
Mr Wilson said: “I absolutely refute any suggestion of any bullying whatsoever. On the contrary, Liz has been personally supported by myself, Norman and colleagues when she wasn’t attending council meetings or anything else because we recognised she’d got serious personal problems.
“Our view is that this is either deliberately timed to inflict the most political damage possible or she continues to be as unwell as she has been for a considerable amount of time. She has let the electors of Denbigh down. If she had guts at all she would offer her resignation from the council. After everything we’ve done to support her, this is the way she’s decided to show thanks.
“The accusation of bullying beggars belief.”
Cllr Miles said: “The group’s done everything we can to support her. We did our best to support her by leaving her alone when requested and then trying to reintegrate her into the council.
“But her attendance has been thin - she’s either left early or not turned up for meetings. As for bullying, many members of the group have tried hard to help Liz including myself, so that can’t possibly apply to the group.”
Leader of the Conservative Cllr Andrew Geary said: “The Labour party clearly has got its own internal problems. That’s fairly obvious. With accusations of bullying it looks like the problems in the Labour Party in Bletchley reflect the problems nationally. They are in a complete pickle.”
Council Leader SamCrooks said it was a matter for the Labour Party.
