Hastings councillor resigns from Labour after close of polls

After the close of polls last night (Thursday, May 7), Hollington councillor Danuta Kean announced her decision to leave the Labour Party group on Hastings Borough Council and become an independent. 

Cllr Kean, a secondary school teacher, said her decision had been prompted by the party’s national platform, describing the government as one which has “consistently punched down on the poorest and most vulnerable in our society”.

Her announcement comes as work begins to count the votes cast in yesterday’s local elections.

There are eight county council divisions in Hastings, all are represented by a single councillor. A councilor is to be elected in all eight seats.

Going into the election, the town’s county council seats were held by: three Conservative councillors;  three Labour councillors; one Green Party councillor; and one Reform UK councillor.

The county council’s overall political make up had been: 22 Conservative councillors; 11 Liberal Democrats; six Green Party councillors; five Labour councillors; two independents; two Independent Democrats; and two Reform UK councillors. 

This meant the 50-seat council was in no overall control, as no single party had a sufficient majority.

The borough council has 16 wards, each represented by two councillors.

One candidate will be elected to each of these wards, with the expectation of St Helens ward where two candidates will be elected as a result of the resignation of Labour councillor David Whitehill in March. 

Going into the election, the council is formed of: 12 Green Party councillors; eight Labour councillors; six Hastings Independent Group councillors; five Conservatives; and one vacant seat (which had previously been held by Mr Whitehill).

This political make-up meant that no individual party had an overall majority on the 32-seat council.

As some councillors are not up for election (having been elected for a four-year term in 2024), the council’s political make-up has a baseline position. 

Cllr Kean, who was elected in 2024, was among those not standing for re-election on this occasion.

With Cllr Kean’s resignation, the baseline position is: nine Green Party councillors; three Labour councillors; two Conservative councillors; and one independent.

Cllr Kean’s  full resignation letter said: “This has been a hard decision to make and reflects a long struggle with my conscience — I have remained only to support Helen Kay as group leader. Below are my reasons for leaving.

“Despite winning a mandate to bring change in 2024, the government embarked on a programme that consistently punched down on the poorest and most vulnerable in our society, be they disabled, deprived, unemployed or refugees. Downing Street also promised to put public service and the common good at its core after years of corruption and careerism from the previous incumbents. 

“But Labour members have been left to defend decisions that had more than a whiff of the last 14 years about them, typified by the appointment of Mandelson. At other times we have been forced to explain failures to act, be that over water renationalisation, US capital taking over the NHS, the crisis in Gaza or taxing the super-rich.

“Rachel Reeves’s decision to end universal winter fuel payment, leaving many local residents falling off a financial cliff edge, was made in bad faith that has since been compounded by benefit reform proposals couched in language more at home in the Daily Mail than the Labour Party. 

“It didn’t end there, but continued with cuts to disability benefits and hikes in interest payments for student loans that hit those on the lowest incomes while leaving the rich unscathed. Add to that the rhetoric our Home Secretary has deployed against asylum seekers and I do not recognise the present Labour Party as the party of Attlee and Bevan.

“There have been steps forward, with extra investment in Hastings, renters’ rights reform and Awaab’s Law. But this is against a backdrop of an entirely unnecessary and uncalled for reorganisation of local government, which is both wasteful and threatens to take political accountability even further away from local people.

“This morning I heard Labour grandee Charlie Faulkener defending the current leadership, He spoke about jury reform and messaging, dismissing the cost of living crisis with “of course that matters but” his focus was on juries.. This cloth-eared response to what really concerns voters simply confirmed my decision, and my sadness at what has happened to a party that used to have the interests of ordinary people at its core.”