Skip to main content
Twenty councillors quit Labour over winter fuel cuts
Campaigners take part in a protest against the government's decision to scrap the winter fuel allowance for pensioners, outside the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, central London, October 7, 2024

PM Keir Starmer has been dealt a dramatic new year blow after 20 councillors from a single local authority quit Labour in protest over his policies.

The members of Broxtowe Council in Nottinghamshire said the government had “abandoned traditional Labour values,” citing in particular the cutting of winter fuel payments for pensioners.

Council leader Milan Radulovic, a party member for 42 years, is among those quitting, leaving just six Labour councillors on the authority.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
Jeremy Corbyn (second left) and Zarah Sultana, MP for Coventry South (second right) on the picket line outside London Euston train station, August 18, 2022
Features / 17 September 2025
17 September 2025

LOTTE COLLETT welcomes the arrival of a new party for the left, a vehicle for councils to finally fight for progressive policies on housing, green spaces and public facilities, rather than administering cuts and misery from central government 

Labour Party / 4 September 2025
4 September 2025
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer delivers a speech during a reception for public sector workers, at 10 Downing Street, London, July 1, 2025
Politics / 3 July 2025
3 July 2025

Starmer struggles to save leadership amid polling calamity