Waltham Forest Liberal Democrats have confirmed that Cllr Milton Martin of Catthall ward has left the Labour Party to become the 21st member of the Liberal Democrat team on Waltham Forest Council, completing the Lib Dems largest ever group of councillors in the borough.

Cllr Martin now joins the team in Catthall ward as a Liberal Democrat activist and councillor.  The move comes after six sitting labour councillors were controversially ‘deselected’ by local labour members, meaning they will barred by Labour from standing for the Labour party in the wards in which they have been elected by voters.  Since the removals took place, Liberal Democrat Leader Cllr John Macklin has confirmed that he had spoken to “a number of local Labour councillors who have expressed their intention to resign their Labour memberships and become members of the Liberal Democrats.”

Welcoming Cllr Milton Martin’s decision to join the Lib Dems, Cllr Macklin continued:

“Cllr Martin’s growing dissatisfaction with the both the Labour Party and the local Labour group had been known to me for some time and I welcomed the opportunity to discuss with him his interest in becoming a member of our party.

“As a well-known councillor in the South of the borough, I know he will contribute to our hard work both in the Town Hall and within the local community. 

“To clarify the current position in response to the rumours of other defections to the Liberal Democrat group, Labour councillors Shameem Highfield (Catthall) and Faiz Yunis (Forest) also expressed verbally an intention to the Chief Executive that they wish to resign as members of the Labour Party group.  However they will not be joining the Liberal Democrat group at this time and therefore their positions within their own group and on the Council obviously remain an internal matter for the Labour Party.”

Explaining his decision to quit the Labour party and join the Liberal Democrats, Cllr Martin said the decision had been “hastened by the much-reported deselection of several sitting councillors by the local party.”

He continued:

“I have increasingly found myself disillusioned with the direction of the Labour Party both locally and nationally, yet until recently I continued to hope that local people keen to do the best for their community could perform this role through service as a Labour councillor.  The deselection of many local members confirmed that this is obviously no longer the case and, for me personally, acted as the final straw.”

“Having spoken to Cllr Macklin at length about the Liberal Democrats plans for the future of our borough, I had no hesitation in becoming a member of the party. 

“I will continue to contribute effectively to Catthall as a Liberal Democrat councillor and an activist in exactly the same way that I know residents have always appreciated and that the Liberal Democrats expect – as a good local councillor who is accessible to local residents and who makes sure that their concerns are properly addressed in the Town Hall.”