Dudley Labour councillor kicked out after savage attack on Prime Minister Keir Starmer

Cllr Steve Edwards, who represents the Brockmoor and Pensnett ward and has been the Managing Director of the Black Country Hub since 2018, said the ‘Labour leader lied to the British public and has turned his back on working-class people’.

The councillor, who was elected to the Dudley Council in May 2024, wrote a highly critical letter to Sir Keir on February 3 begging Labour to do more to support ordinary people, he has now been told his membership of the party has been terminated.

Cllr Edwards said: “I kind of expected it after I have been so vocal about Starmer, six or seven months before the general election, that he seemed to turn his back on the working class.

“I was apprehensive about what he would be like when he became Prime Minister but he made various promises, that our heating bills would go down, pensioners would be looked after, school children would be fed, that there would be no tax rises but within weeks of being elected he completely changed his mind.

“It filters from the top down and they are not listening to us from the bottom up, the working class are the wealth creators in this country, what Starmer is offering is no help at all.

“He has been treacherous to everybody. He is a massive liar.”

Labour said the party does not comment on membership matters but made it clear Sir Keir Starmer is not involved.

Dudley’s Labour group leader, Cllr Pete Lowe, said: “It’s a sad loss. Steve has been a strong community campaigner and an individual I have known and respected for many years.

“The Labour Party, when it is at its best and strongest, is a broad church that has people from all wings of the party fighting for the objectives of the party.”

Cllr Edwards has been a member of the Labour Party for around eight years although he left to fight the 2021 elections as an independent before returning in 2022.

The 41-year-old confirmed he will now sit as an independent councillor in Dudley which will make the political landscape in his ward a mixed bag.

Apart from Cllr Edwards, Brockmoor is represented by Labour’s Karen Westwood and Alex Dale for the Conservatives.

A by-election in the ward in December 2024 saw Labour pushed into third place behind the Conservatives and Reform UK.

Cllr Edwards said: “I am gutted to have been kicked out but more gutted for the reasons why I have been kicked out.

“The reason is because I’m a voice for the working class, and that just won’t be tolerated.

“I still believe the Labour Party is the best vehicle for social change in the country, but not when you have an establishment stooge like Keir Starmer running the party.”