A GERMAN-BORN councillor has resigned from the Labour Party over national leaders’ “lukewarm response” to Brexit.

Councillor Michael Inkpin-Leissner will now sit on Brighton and Hove City Council as an independent in response to his party’s decision to back Brexit.

The Hollingdean and Stanmer councillor, who is the council’s current Armed Forces champion, chose the day that Prime Minister Theresa May announced she will trigger Britain’s exit from the EU at the end of the month to confirm his resignation.

Cllr Inkpin-Leissner, who became a councillor after the 2015 elections, said the “centre-left” party he had joined had been taken over by “left-wingers and Momentum extremists”.

He added that he had lost faith that the party was committed to fighting anti- Semitism “proven by the lacklustre investigation of Baroness Chakrabarti”.

The resignation reduces the number of councillors on the Labour minority administration to just 22 compared to 20 of their main opposition party, the Conservatives.

Council leader Warren Morgan said last night that he was sorry to lose a colleague but understood his reasons, adding his administration would be unaffected.