Welsh Labour councillor quits party over benefit cuts

A Welsh Labour councillor has quit the party in protest at the £4.8billion of benefit cuts announced last week by the Chancellor Rachel Reeves in her Spring Statement.

Wrexham councillor Anthony Wedlake, confirmed his resignation on Sunday and says he will instead sit as a councillor of the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC).

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Core values

Councillor Wedlake said: “The Labour Party under Keir Starmer’s leadership has been moving further and further from the core values Labour is meant to represent.

“I have been concerned about the direction of the party for some time, but to take money from the poorest in our society to spend on armaments is the final straw.

“I cannot in all conscience remain a member of a party that attacks the working class. I have not left Labour so much as Labour has left me.

“I believe that we need a new party of the working class that will stand up for the rights of working people and fight the austerity policies of all the other parties: Labour, Tory, Plaid and of course Reform – all of whom would cut spending on services for working people while the richest 1% amass colossal wealth. That is why I will be sitting as a Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition councillor.

“I will continue to represent the people of Coedpoeth to the best of my ability, and I believe that is best done by leaving a party committed to cutting public services and benefits and instead fighting in their interests as a TUSC councillor.

“It is also clear that being an independent councillor on Wrexham council means coalition with the Tories which is clearly not an option for me.”

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Bob Crow

The Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) was set-up in 2010, co-founded by the late Bob Crow, the General Secretary of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers from 2002 until his death in 2014.

The primary goal of the party is enabling trade unionists, community campaigners and socialists to stand candidates against pro-austerity establishment politicians.

Dave Warren, secretary of TUSC Wales, said: “I am delighted to welcome Anthony Wedlake to our ranks. I believe that there are many sincere activists in the Labour party who are coming to the conclusion that Labour can no longer be regarded as a party that fights for working class people. A new party based on the trade unions and committed to socialist policies is needed, and TUSC is the first step towards that objective.

“TUSC Wales welcomes any other Labour councillors who cannot stomach Labour’s commitment to austerity, nationally and locally, to come under the TUSC umbrella. We will be campaigning for a new workers’ party to contest the Senedd and Welsh council elections in 2026 and 2027."