Labour Party loses third Portsmouth councillor as Kirsty Mellor quits party to become an independent

Councillor Kirsty Mellor, who has represented the Charles Dickens ward since 2021, will continue as an independent, joining Cal Corkery, who was expelled from the party last month, and Judith Smyth, who was suspended last year pending an investigation.

She said the decision had been made ‘following much soul-searching and deliberation’.

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‘This has been a difficult decision and is not one I have taken lightly,’ she said. ‘My experience of the party over the past few months has, unfortunately, been overwhelmingly negative. It has now reached the point where I feel I can best continue to serve those who elected me by sitting as an independent councillor.

‘The reality is the Labour Party has moved away from the core traditional values I hold dear. That, along with the mistreatment of my comrades Cal Corkery and Judith Smyth, has led to a position where I feel my continued party membership is untenable.’

Her decision came shortly before party leader Sir Keir Starmer spoke on Wednesday about how the party had improved its handling of antisemitism complaints.

At the same time, he confirmed Jeremy Corbyn would not stand as a Labour candidate at the next general election.

Cllr Mellor had been Labour’s spokesman for community safety on Portsmouth City Council and is the chairwoman of the housing and social care scrutiny panel.

She said she ‘truly regretted’ the recent actions of the party but added she was ‘committed’ to serving the people of of Charles Dickens alongside fellow ward representative Cllr Corkery.

Cllr Corkery had been the leader of the Labour group until his expulsion due to his membership of Momentum, a social media post he liked in 2016 and his arrest at a protest against the decision of the then prime minister Boris Johnson to prorogue parliament.

Footage of his arrest from the time of the protest also shows Cllr Mellor handcuffed by police.

With Cllr Smyth’s investigation by the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party still ongoing, there are now six members of the city council’s Labour group compared to nine six months ago. Charlotte Gerada has been appointed group leader, with Graham Heaney serving as her deputy.