Former Labour city councillors who split from the party over Keir Starmer’s stance on the Israel, Gaza conflict have now formed two separate parties.

Imogen Thomas, who resigned as a Labour councillor from the city council on October 21, has confirmed to the Oxford Mail she will be leading the newly formed Oxford Socialist Independents.

Ms Thomas accrued the signatures of her fellow former Labour councillors Dr Hosnieh Djafari-Marbini, Paula Dunne, Jabu Nala-Hartley, Duncan Hall, Edward Mundy, and confirmed receipt from Democratic Services.

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She said: “We are pleased to form Oxford Socialist Independents.

"We resigned from the Labour Party because, for us, equality for all is not just something we speak of but a value we hold dear and act on daily.

"This is whether it’s in trying to address the cost of living and housing crises in the city or calling for a ceasefire in Gaza where thousands have been killed.

“Many people in the city have long felt that the council structures do not reflect and speak to their everyday lives.

“We will be focusing on community wealth building ensuring that our city’s public services and spaces are run for our residents by our residents be that in leisure services or in our community centres.

“This is the only way the drastic inequalities amongst our city’s residents can be tackled. We will be supporting policies and actions that directly tackle the above.”

Ms Thomas’s resignation, along with her five party members, came a week after councillor Shaista Aziz and Dr Amar Latif left the Labour party.

This is Oxfordshire: Councillor Shaista Aziz Councillor Shaista Aziz (Image: Contribution)

The first two councillors to leave Oxford City Council’s Labour seats after Keir Starmer’s comments, formed a new party, the Independent Group.

It is understood that Ms Aziz and Dr Latif approached the six councillors who resigned the week after them, asking to meet with them individually, but the meetings never took place.

When asked to comment on why the members of the newly formed Oxford Socialist Independents did not join Ms Aziz’s and Dr Latif’s Independent Group, Ms Thomas declined.

Ms Azis said: “I can’t answer for the six other councillors, but myself and Dr Latif have reached out to the leader of the Green Party and the Lib Dems.

“We’ve had important conversations, and we’re trying to focus on bringing adaptations to divisive transport policies.

“We’ll also be focusing on tackling the cost-of-living crisis and building community safety for Muslims and Jews.

“We understand that hate crime is underreported, and we want to ensure that any member of any community is supported.”

It is unclear at this time whether the exodus of Labour councillors – who are now acting under new parties – will trigger a by-election.

Labour leader of Oxford City Council Susan Brown has said she is “sad” and “disappointed” at losing Labour’s majority on the council.

 

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This story was written by Matthew Norman, he joined the team in 2022 as a Facebook community reporter.

Matthew covers Bicester and focuses on finding stories from diverse communities.

Get in touch with him by emailing: Matthew.norman@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter: @OxMailMattN1