“CONSTANT U-turns” by the government have led a councillor in what might be Labour’s safest council seat in South West England to leave the party.

Cllr Grant Johnson, who represents the former coal mining village of Paulton on Bath and North East Somerset Council, has announced he is quitting Labour to become an independent councillor.

He said: “If there was a different leader, maybe I would be making a different decision.

“It’s just the constant U-turns. And I don’t get a feeling there is any real strategic direction and Keir Starmer feels he knows what his vision is for the country.”

Mr Johnson said it had been a difficult personal decision which he had been thinking about for months. He said that most of his work as a councillor, such as being chair of Paulton, was not party political but that everything the Labour government did was seen as a reflection of Labour councillors.

He said: “I work in agriculture; I am an environmental sustainability manager. Two areas where they [the Labour government] have been disappointing is on climate change and what they have been implementing in terms of agricultural policy.

“I am happy to get on with my work locally. I haven’t got any ambition to go any further.”

But while he said he was disillusioned with Keir Starmer’s Labour government, he stressed his decision was not a reflection on the Labour group on Bath and North East Somerset Council.

Paulton, which sends two councillors to Bath and North East Somerset Council, has only ever elected two Labour councillors since the council was founded. Mr Johnson believes the village is the safest Labour council seat in the whole of South West England.

Bath and North East Somerset Council has two rival groups of independent councillors: the Independent Group and Independents for B&NES.

Both have reached out to Mr Johnson to ask if he would like to join them. Mr Johnson said he was still considering the invitation from the Independent Group but that he had “absolutely no interest” in joining Independents for B&NES. It is a breakaway group which formed after the Independent Group refused to let Saltford councillor Chris Warren join due to “lack of clarity surrounding a controversial social media X account.”

Labour group leader Robin Moss (Westfield) said: “We’re sorry that Grant has decided to leave the Labour Party, and the Labour group on B&NES. Unfortunately undoing 14 years of the Conservative and coalition governments’ mess means taking difficult and at times unpopular decisions in government. We would like to thank Grant for the work that he has done for the Labour Party and Labour group, and wish him well for the future.”

A spokesperson for the Independent Group said: “We’ve worked closely with Grant on a number of issues over the years, and he has consistently proven to be a dedicated and effective councillor for Paulton. We genuinely wish him every success and are pleased to offer the full support of the Independent Group.”