Leicester East councillor quits Labour and calls Corbyn 'a clown'

THE chairman of the Leicester East Constituency Labour Party has resigned and has criticised leader Jeremy Corbyn in a letter.

Councillor John Thomas, a key ally of former MP Keith Vaz, has quit and in a letter dated November 18 said he "can no longer follow the clown" that leads the party.

Thomas, 75, said he could no longer follow Corbyn who "is heavily influenced by the Trotskyite (Unite union leader) Len McCluskey" and has accused the Labour leader of turning "this great party into a laughing stock."

About his decision to resign, he said: "This is a great disappointment to me, realising that I have spent over 30 years of my life working for a party that I know now that I have nothing in common with.

"This is not the party I joined, the party for decent working people."

Thomas has also criticised the choice of general election candidate for Leicester East, saying it was "a fix."

However, Labour has defended the selection of Claudia Webbe, saying she was an "excellent" choice.

"Claudia Webbe is a BAME woman who was born in and grew up in Leicester.

"Her knowledge of the constituency, her extensive experience as a councillor and as a campaigner for equality for all ethnic minority groups make her an excellent candidate."

In an interview with LeicestershireLive, Thomas said he was not certain Webbe would be able to defend the 22,428 majority left to her.

He said: “Labour are taking this seat for granted. It was a safe seat for Keith Vaz. It is not a safe seat for Corbyn’s Labour.”

It was recently announced that Vaz would not be seeking re-election in the constituency.