Welsh Labour councillor quits party after learning it hid evidence that cleared him of complaint

Martin Shipton

A former council Labour group leader who was barred from standing in the general election has quit the party after learning that it has concealed evidence that should have cleared him of a complaint made against him.

Carmarthenshire county councillor Rob James was the favourite to win nomination as the Labour candidate for the new seat of Caerfyrddin.

But the party selection process was halted to remove him from the contest when a complaint was raised.

Now, in an email to Labour councillors in Carmarthenshire, Cllr James has revealed that he has resigned from the party after the Information Commissioner’s Office confirmed that it had cleared him of a data breach four months ago, but that the Labour Party had sat on the outcome.

Suspended

In his letter, Cllr James wrote: “As you will know, I was suspended as your group leader and from the Labour Party 20 weeks ago. During this time, I have actively sought to respond to the two allegations presented to me, yet we are now at the stage where I feel obligated to share with you the full details.

“On January 25, I was contacted by a colleague to state that he had received a letter from HQ to state that I had been suspended. I received a letter myself from the party the next day with two allegations, namely that I had used Contact Creator [party software] to download an electoral register for the Member of Parliament for Swansea West (who I work for) and the second being a text that I sent to a Plaid councillor in early 2023.

“Please note that I had been sanctioned for the text message last year when the party blocked me from being the candidate for Caerfyrddin in the general election, so it was mainly the data breach that required a response. I sent a detailed response to the party on both allegations on February 7.

“Since this date, I have contacted the Compliance Unit on no fewer than eight occasions requesting an update on when the National Executive Committee would consider my case; I have been in correspondence with the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party; I have been in correspondence with the General Secretary of Welsh Labour; and I have been in dialogue with two NEC members to request support.

“The message I have constantly received back is that they are investigating the matter, awaiting a response from the Information Commissioner’s Office (on the breach), that there was no backlog of complaints that the NEC were working on, and that they will present a report to the NEC as soon as possible.

“I also spoke to the Information Commissioner’s Office on three occasions to check that my actions were not in breach of GDPR – on every occasion it was stated that I had done nothing wrong.

“Now the conditions placed on me during my suspension were that I couldn’t attend Labour branch/CLP [constituency Labour Party] meetings, couldn’t attend Labour group meetings, couldn’t be in any WhatsApp or Facebook groups relating to the Labour Party, couldn’t talk about my suspension with others, and most frustrating of all, I was barred from sitting on any council committee (essentially preventing me from being an active councillor).

“All the while, it was stated that I must continue to pay the party hundreds of pounds and comply with the Labour whip with no ability to play an active role. Having spoken with Members of Parliament, councillors and members across the UK that had been suspended by the party in the last two years, I have been unable to find a single case where such draconian measures have been placed on another member.”

Mental impact

He added: “The mental impact during the last 20 weeks has been tremendous. I was already aware that I was losing my job when the general election was called and then I lost my role as the group leader, yet the worst part was being unable to talk with you about what was going on, not being able to work closely with you and not being able to socialise with my friends in the party during this time – it’s been frankly awful.

“As a last ditch attempt to try and get a resolution, I made a subject access request last month to the Information Commissioner’s Office to find out why there was a delay on my case. Yesterday I finally received a response to the ICO where it is stated that they had informed the Labour Party on the February 7 that there was no case to answer on the alleged data breach. I am more than happy to share the ICO subject access request with any of you.

“For the last 18 weeks, the party that I have given much of my adult life to has been lying to me stating that they were investigating a matter that had been cleared. I have been told privately that the party has no intention of dealing with the complaint and that they were keeping me in limbo hoping that I would quit. For whatever reason, it is clear to me that I have upset the hierarchy in the Labour Party somehow and they have sought to damage my reputation, my livelihood and that of my children and family, my mental health and prevent me from being a councillor.

“Well those in the party that have carried out this campaign against me have succeeded and I have no option but to now leave a party that I once loved.

“I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for all your friendship and your tremendous work as elected members over the years. It has truly been an honour to have worked with you all and a privilege to have led Carmarthenshire Labour for almost seven years. I wish you the best in the future.”

The text message sent by Cllr James to a Plaid councillor wrongly implied that Llanelli Labour MS Lee Waters had two “second homes” that he didn’t live in..

Labour has been asked to comment.