Grassroots party members stand by suspended Labour councillor

A Labour Party branch meeting has voted unanimously to demand the reinstatement of a suspended ward councillor.

Members of Moulsecoomb and Bevendean branch also expressed anger at a decision to stop Councillor Leigh Farrow from standing again at next year’s council elections.

Councillor Leigh Farrow

The Brighton and Hove Independent newspaper reported that a meeting on Wednesday (13 August) voted unanimously to demand the immediate reinstatement of 59-year-old Councillor Farrow.

The anger of members was fuelled by a last-minute email from Mel Davis, who chairs the citywide Brighton, Hove and District Labour Party.

She said that the branch meeting should not go ahead because the veteran councillor – who had a double heart by-pass operation last November – was under investigation after allegedly swearing at a fellow Labour councillor.

Today (Saturday 16 August) the local party is welcoming activists from around the country as part of its “3 Seat Challenge”.

Members will be campaigning in all three parliamentary constituencies in Brighton and Hove on behalf of candidates Nancy Platts, Purna Sen and Peter Kyle, pictured below.

All three seats – Brighton Kemptown, Brighton Pavilion and Hove – are marginal and were held by Labour until the 2010 general election.