Former leader forced out, says ex-Labour councillor

A former Labour councillor said he was driven to quit the party after the authority's leader was "forced out".

Rob Roche, who represents Northwell on Luton Borough Councillor, resigned from Labour in July after he said Hazel Simmons "was informed she must stand down but must do a statement resigning her post" by the regional party leadership.

Simmons quit as leader in March after 19 years and was replaced by Tahmina Saleem in May.

A spokesperson for Labour East said: "While the Labour Party does not comment on internal processes, we can confirm there was a National Executive Committee led process earlier this year that was conducted in line with Labour Party policies and procedures."

Roche resigned from the party along with five other councillors, who have since formed an Independent alliance, leaving the authority under no-overall control ahead of the next elections which are scheduled for May 2027.

Roche, who has been a councillor for seven years and held the housing portfolio for two years, said resigning from the party was "really tough" as he had been a Labour supporter since the 1970s and his mum had been a trade unionist.

"It pulled at the heartstrings but we felt we had to do this to represent local democracy in Luton," he added.

Roche said the council's Labour Party members can force a no-confidence vote in a leader if 40% of them agree to the move, but added a review was instigated by Labour East in March on the political leadership of the authority.

He said: "The official outcome was never shared with the whole group and as such there was no opportunity to debate or respond to what their findings were.

"It was done via telephone interviews with a few selected people, MPs and councillors me included, and on completion Hazel Simmons was informed she must stand down but must do a statement resigning her post so effectively she was forced out."

Simmons began her political career as a councillor in 1991 and became leader in 2007 and in 2017 was awarded an MBE for services to local government.

Roche said: "We find that in line with the Labour Party principles of fairness that her loyalty being treated like that was disgusting given her years of public service."

He said that Labour East had also instructed the whole of the council's executive to stand down and reapply for their positions, but he chose not to do so.

"Members were offered a choice of two candidates for the position of leader and imposed only one candidate for deputy leader, despite applications from several group members for both positions including councillor Javed Hussain," he said.

Hussain had been Simmons deputy, but was replaced when Saleem took over, becoming the ceremonial mayor for the town instead.

When Saleem became the new leader she told the BBC she only put herself forward as a candidate at the last minute.

She said: "I am naturally disappointed that six former Labour elected councillors have chosen to resign. I hope we can continue to work together on the town's priorities. Building the stronger, safer Luton that our communities deserve.

"My team and I are busy getting on with that job and delivering on local resident's priorities to make a real and tangible difference."

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