Why Knowsley Labour councillor has joined Green Party
BBCA Labour councillor in Knowsley council has defected to the Green Party opposition.
Councillor Chantelle Lunt, who was elected to represent St Gabriel's ward in 2024, said she felt that she could "no longer defend Labour's position on the door step".
Lunt joined the Labour party under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership in 2019, but said that since taking power in 2024, the party had made a series of u-turns which she said had landed badly with voters.
She said "I campaigned for Labour in 2024 believing that they would bring about a real change for working class people. It's become increasingly clear that they are not delivering that change".
She said she felt that the local Labour group was not "pushing back" on the government's Fair Funding settlement – a three year funding plan for councils which she said would see Knowsley worse off in real terms, and which could lead to cuts for vital services.
She said she felt the Green party locally "are out protecting our green spaces, and the vulnerable in our community."
Lunt is a former trainee police officer and now an academic. She set up Merseyside Black Lives Matter Alliance in 2021.
Her defection means the Green Party have eight elected members on Knowsley council, and are the largest opposition group – a distant second to Labour which has 30 of the 45 seats available.
However, that could be set to change at this May's local elections when a third of the seats are up for grabs.
Lunt will not be up for election this time round – her next election contest will be 2028.
Knowsley's Green group leader Kai Taylor said Reform, Labour and the Greens would be battling for every seat in May and it would be a "the most impactful elections we have ever had in Knowsley". He said "yes Reform are eating into Labour's vote here, but so are we". There are also currently three Liberal Democrats and four independent councillors in the borough.
Cllr Lunt's defection to the Greens means the party now holds all three seats in the St Gabriels ward.
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