Right-wing Labour council leader, who courted Tory support and smeared left members, to step down

Cllr Paul Stuart featured in Al Jazeera exposé for compiling anti-left smear ‘dossier’

Right-wing Wirral Labour council leader Paul Stuart, who according to party insiders offered key council positions to Tories to try to drum up support for his 2023 bid to take over Wirral Council, is to step down in May.

Stuart, who is currently the deputy leader of the council, featured prominently in the Al Jazeera ‘Labour Files’ exposé of the Labour right’s smears and sabotage after compiling a dossier of smears against the local party left, including the ludicrous use of a quote lifted from a review of a book about Militant to justify claims of so-called ‘entryism’ to discredit left-wing Labour members and protect woeful Wallasey MP Angela Eagle when local members refused to support her bid to replace Jeremy Corbyn as party leader.

Despite announcing his departure, leading a council that is in financial crisis and facing calls from Green councillors to resign immediately, Stuart has been praised by Tories and LibDems, as Wirral Greens co-leader Jo Bird pointed out:

In a statement, Bird said the local authority ‘sorely’ needs a different and genuinely democratic leadership that really puts local people and the environment first:

Wirral Council sorely needs a new style of leadership that:

• Shows organisational grip
• Shares power fairly and democratically
• Welcomes challenge
• Above all, puts Wirral’s people and environment first.

Labour’s attacks on democracy in Wirral go back years. The right-wing party machine manufactured smears to suspend Wallasey local party in order to protect Angela Eagle from democratic deselection – and in 2023 suspended Wirral West ‘CLP’ to ensure the selection of right-winger Alison McGovern after her Wirral South constituency was abolished under new boundaries.

At a council level, the Starmer party discriminated against disabled candidates to deselect them and Stuart’s operation froze out Green councillors from cabinet positions and key committees despite the council being in no overall control and the Greens holding holding more than a fifth of the council seats, only three behind the Tories, after a strong performance in the 2023 local elections.

The Jewish Jo Bird, formerly a Labour councillor, was horrifically smeared by Labour during the same manufactured ‘Labour antisemitism’ scam targeting left-wingers of which Stuart’s smear dossier formed part.

Stuart’s announcement comes after a letter from local Labour councillors calling for his removal leaked to the press:

Serious failings in leadership have brought the borough to the brink of financial disaster. Reports of lack of governance, accountability, and critical mismanagement paint a stark picture of a council unable to meet its obligations to residents.

This looming financial crisis demands decisive and experienced leadership that can take control, restore stability, and prevent irreversible damage to the borough’s future. It is now evident that the current leader and deputy leader lack the experience and capability to provide this level of leadership.

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