Dear Editor,
With the greatest regret, we have taken the hard decision to leave the Labour Party.
We will continue to serve the communities that elected us as Community Independent Councillors on Stroud District Council. We are immensely grateful to our friends and colleagues in the local Labour Party, the trade union movement, the Co-operative Alliance itself and the wider community for your support following this difficult decision.
As Community Independents, we will be free to focus on the local issues that matter, without being part of a centralised party whose leadership does not connect with our values.
Our top priority will remain as it has always been, from the moment we were elected, to serve the residents of our wards, to support and uphold the Cooperative Alliance that has successfully run Stroud District council for ten years, and to assist in the delivery of the council plan for the benefit of local residents with its focus on community, the environment and the local economy.
Above all we are committed to ensuring that local support can be provided to those struggling most with the cost of living crisis.
Doina Cornell, Trevor Hall, Robin Layfield and Colin Fryer
