Deputy Leader of Hartlepool Borough Council Resigns from Labour Party After By-Election Blow...

Cllr Tom Feeney

Hartlepool Labour Councillor Tom Feeney, who also stands as the councils Deputy Leader has resigned from the Labour Party although his reasons appear to be rather perplexing....

2nd May 2025

The Deputy Leader of Hartlepool Borough Council has announced his resignation from the Labour Party in a move which come just hours after a crushing by-election defeat to Reform UK, with sources telling HBC Exposed that internal chaos within the Local Political Group has reached boiling point.

Tom Feeney, who represents Hartlepool's Rossmere ward, declared via social media on Friday Evening that he will now serve out the remainder of his elected term as an Independent councillor at Hartlepool Borough Council, claiming the Labour Government’s abandonment of trans and non-binary rights as the reason for his departure.

Mr Feeney is currently elected until 2027..

In a statement on his official social media page Cllr Feeney said :

“I can no longer be part of what the current Labour Government has become and the direction that it is headed,” Feeney wrote. “When it comes to the rights of LGBTQ+ people, there can be no compromises. LGBTQ+ rights are human rights.”

Whilst his statement strongly aligns his resignation with principles of equality, sources close to the council have told HBC Exposed a very different story — one of brewing internal friction, mounting disillusionment with Labour’s local leadership, and a party in freefall both locally and nationally.

Numerous insiders told HBC Exposed this evening that Cllr Feeney’s decision may have more to do with the growing sense of unease inside the Labour group, following poor electoral performances and increasing scepticism from residents about the party’s ability to govern effectively. One source claimed the Deputy Leader had reportedly become “deeply concerned” by the current leadership’s failure to retain public confidence, a move said to have taken aim at the councils leader Brenda Harrison, with Cllr Feeney's apparent 'support' for the Labour Party being made known just a day before the local election's, only then to resign as they lost a crucial council seat a day later....

Labour suffered a bruising loss in a by-election held in Hartlepool on the 1st May to replace the vacant council seat in Throston left following the resignation of Labour Councillor Cameron Sharp, where Reform UK took the council seat with a sizeable majority— a signal, some say, that a political realignment could be underway in Hartlepool. With speculation said to be rife that other resignations may be imminent, suggesting the local Labour Party could now be entering a period of serious fragmentation not seen since its collapse in 2019-2020 under the then leadership of Christopher Ackers Belcher.

Feeney, in his resignation letter, stopping short of criticising the local labour leadership outright, instead praised Labour’s work since taking control of the council in May 2024 only adding a layer of complexity to the reasons for him quitting the local political group:

“For too long, our town has been neglected and mismanaged. Only now are we beginning to see real, tangible improvements,” he said.

However, critics have already pointed to the rather 'irregular' timing of his resignation — coming less than 24 hours after the Hartlepool by-election loss to Reform UK — as proof that the cited issue of 'trans rights' is in fact a smokescreen for Feeneys deeper political dissatisfaction. One local political observer told HBC Exposed: “If this was truly about LGBTQ+ rights, why wait until now, after a by-election embarrassment? It simply doesn’t add up.”

Adding to Labour’s woes is said to be mounting pressure on another councillor, Former Labour Councillor Steve Wallace, who faces fresh calls to resign following a February conviction for assault.

If Wallace, who now also sits as an Independent Councillor steps down, it would trigger yet another by-election in the towns Throston Ward— potentially handing yet another once former 'safe' Labour seat to Reform UK.

Labour dont seem to be saying a ward over Cllr Feeney's resignation from the party...

At the time of publication, the Hartlepool Labour group has made no official comment on Cllr Feeney’s departure. But behind the silence, insiders say, there’s considerable panic within Labours central ranks, with the resignation of a Deputy Leader less than a year after Labour took control of Hartlepool Borough Council, the moves said to be raising serious questions about the Labour party’s direction, both locally and in Westminster under Keir Starmer.

With public trust said to be waning and opposition parties such as Reform gaining ground, Labour’s grip on Hartlepool may be slipping faster than many expected.