Former Leighton-Linslade Labour group leader joins Green Party
Former Labour group leader on Leighton-Linslade Town Council Pat Carberry has joined the Green Party, after being an Independent councillor on the local authority since August.
Councillor Carberry said last summer he was “unhappy with the direction the Labour Party is going” and claimed he and five other local candidates were ‘sidelined’ when applying to stand as MP for South West Bedfordshire.
His move to join the Green Party was confirmed at a Leighton-Linslade Town Council meeting. He was elected to the town council in 2021 as a Labour councillor, having lived in the town since 1982.
Councillor Carberry explained: “I’m delighted to join the Green Party and to be endorsed as a Green councillor.
“Having been elected five years ago as a Labour councillor and Labour group leader on Leighton-Linslade Town Council, I became disillusioned that Labour had lost its way and strayed from the core values that attracted me to the party initially.
“I made the decision to leave Labour last summer and have been an Independent until Monday, (April 27) when I formally declared my position as a Green councillor.
“We live in some strange political times where the far-right is growing, and the way the mainstream parties seem to counter the threat is to embrace far-right rhetoric.
“The Green Party, in my view, is the most consistent in standing up for equal rights, human rights, workers’ rights and the environment, to name but a few. Joining the Green Party feels to me like coming home.”
Central Bedfordshire Council Green Party Ampthill councillor Susan Clinch said: “We’re delighted to welcome Pat to the Green Party.
“He has a strong track record of public service and community leadership, and we’re pleased that now he’ll be representing Green values on Leighton- Linslade Town Council.
“At a time when many people feel let down by politics as usual, Pat’s decision shows that there’s a growing appetite for principled and positive local leadership.”
Born in Ireland, councillor Carberry spent 35 years as a firefighter at Leighton Buzzard Fire Station. He formally declared himself a Green councillor at a Leighton-Linslade Town Council meeting on Monday. (Apr 27th)
He said previously: “I’ve spent more than a quarter of a century working in a leading role, promoting fairness and equality of opportunity in employment practice.
“For the past five years, I’ve served on the town council always guided by a simple principle that the needs of my constituents come first and party interests come second.”