A senior Labour councillor has quit the party after decades of membership over its handling of the war in Gaza.

Cllr Kevin McKeon currently sits on Horwich Town Council and has previously served in cabinet level positions with the Labour group at Bolton Council.

But having first joined Labour in the early 1980s, the long time campaigner has now ended his membership, above all citing Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s stance on the war in the Middle East.

Cllr McKeon said: “There are a number of issues I am not happy about but at the end of the day, it’s Gaza.

“I can no longer support the leader of a party when that leader is giving tacit support for what I regard as genocide.”

Bolton has seen several large scale pro-Palestine rallies since last OctoberBolton has seen several large scale pro-Palestine rallies since last October (Image: Henry Lisowski)

Since the eruption of the latest stage of the conflict in Gaza and southern Israel, around 42,000 Palestinians, including around 16,000 children have been killed.

Bolton has seen several large scale protests in the town centre over recent months calling for an end to the conflict. 

Cllr McKeon said: “Daily I saw examples of slaughter, with children crying over their dead parents and parents crying over their dead children.

“Israel has violated the sovereignty of Syria, Iraq and Lebanon, I think around a quarter of the Lebanese population has been displaced and not once has Starmer condemned the Israeli government”

He added: “Starmer is quite happy to condemn Putin as a war criminal, so I find his hypocrisy contemptible.

“I suppose my feelings came to a head when Iran sent missiles to Israel.

“Almost immediately Starmer grabbed his Union Jack, condemned Iran and claimed the missiles were aimed at civilians and not military installations.”

Cllr McKeon said that another key moment had been at a recent Prime Minister’s Question Time.

This was when Coventry South MP Zarah Sultana had asked if Sir Keir would support a ban on arms sales to Israel, only for the Prime Minister to reply “no".

Cllr McKeon has long been a well-known campaigner in Horwich and Bolton over the years, having been first elected to Horwich Town Council in the 1980s.

He was elected to Bolton Council in 2010 and held various positions including as Labour chief whip.

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Cllr McKeon was defeated in the Horwich North ward at the 2023 local elections but was elected again to Horwich Town Council in 2023 where he represents the Brazley Ward.

Until his decision to leave Labour, he had been the party’s only representative on the town council.

He says that he intends to see out his term as an independent town councillor but will not stand again at the next election.

Cllr McKeon said he had “nothing but respect for local Labour councillors” and that his decision was driven by the national leadership.

He said: “I’ve thought about it and Labour is not a welcoming place for pro-Palestinian voices.”

The Labour Party has been approached for comment.