Brighton Labour councillor defects after ’18 months of antisemitism and abuse’
The chair of the council’s Housing and New Homes Committee, Anne Meadows, cites attacks she's suffered as she joins the Tories
A Brighton Councillor has defected to the Tories citing antisemitism and making her new party the largest on the seaside town’s council.
Anne Meadows, the chair of the council’s Housing and New Homes Committee, made her move only month’s before council elections, when the Conservative group is likely to wrest control from the Labour-led coalition.
In an interview with BBC Brighton, Cllr Meadows said she had been subjected to “18 months of antisemitism and abuse.
Cllr Meadows told the local Argus newspaper: “I am delighted that I have been so warmly accepted into the Conservative family, having spent most of my life as a Labour member and councillor.
“Leaving the Labour Party was not an easy decision for me, but today’s Labour Party is not one I recognise, nor the one I joined many years ago.
“I want to continue to represent residents in Moulsecoomb and Bevendean in the most effective way possible and I believe to achieve this it has to be as a Conservative councillor.”
Delighted to welcome former Labour Cllr Anne Meadows to @Conservatives. Anne has been a dedicated councillor in Brighton & Hove since 1994 but has been driven out by the disgraceful anti-Jewish racism that runs through Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party. Enough is enough @jeremycorbyn. pic.twitter.com/18MorkfGX5
— Brandon Lewis (@BrandonLewis) February 20, 2019
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