A Greenwich Labour councillor has quit the party after accusing one of his colleagues of making a homophobic remark to him.
Chris Lloyd, who represents West Thamesmead, made a formal complaint against the councillor to senior figures in Greenwich Labour this summer, but became frustrated at the lack of action, The Greenwich Wire understands.
“I no longer feel that the group is a safe place for LGBT councillors,” he said in a resignation email sent to council leader Anthony Okereke, chief whip Peter Baker and ‘Lade Hephzibah Olugbemi, his fellow councillor in West Thamesmead, on Friday.
Lloyd will now sit as an independent after resigning from the Labour group on the council. He was first elected in 2014 in the old Peninsula ward before switching to West Thamesmead last year.
The offending remark is said to have been made in the lead-up to the council elections in May 2022. Lloyd had first made senior figures in the party aware of the comment after the election, The Greenwich Wire has been told.
Labour will now have 51 councillors at Woolwich Town Hall, with three Tories and Lloyd sitting alone as an independent.
Lloyd, 38, had been a member of the Labour Party for 19 years, and until recently had ambitions to reach Westminster. In Greenwich he sits on the planning board and was head of scrutiny until the last election. He is married to Sammy Backon, a Labour councillor for Eltham Town & Avery Hill.
In November last year he was selected as Labour’s candidate for North Swindon, a seat held by the Conservative Justin Tomlinson, after impressing during an unsuccessful attempt to stand in a neighbouring seat. However, he quit three weeks later, saying that he was struggling to balance the demands of a new job with his commitments as a candidate.
Okereke has been contacted for comment.