The Hartlepool Labour Party: A House Divided, & Teetering on the Edge of Collapse

Members said to be fearing a re-occurance of the 2019 Labour 'Civil War' which seen them not only lose control of Hartlepool Borough Council, but also the constituency seat shortly after.....

3rd May 2025

Hartlepool, has long been a Labour stronghold, its red roots stretched back decades. But beneath the surface of this former "Red Wall" bastion, its claimed the cracks are forming once more—cracks that threaten to topple the Hartlepool Labour Party’s grip on the Borough Council.

Labours 'ultra leftists', such as the now former Labour Councillorr Tom Feeney see no place in the political party anymore

Its claimed Infighting, ideological schisms, and echoes of past betrayals are once again rearing their ugly heads, with the ghosts of 2019 looming large. The recent by-election loss to Reform UK on May 1, 2025, and a councillor’s bombshell resignation from the party the very next day have set the stage for what could be Labour’s undoing in Hartlepool. Buckle up, readers, because this is a political saga brimming with drama, betrayal, and the kind of intrigue that could make even the most seasoned local political watcher raise an eyebrow.

A Familiar Fracture: The Ultra-Left vs. the Centre

At the heart of Hartlepool Labour’s troubles is a bitter ideological divide. On one side, the ultra-leftists, inspired by the Corbynite vision of transformative socialism & the push for radical policies and grassroots activism. On the other, the more centrist, pragmatic members who align with Keir Starmer’s vision of a polished, electable Labour Party focused on winning over swing voters. This isn’t just a polite disagreement over policy—it’s said to be a full-blown feud that’s tearing the local party apart.

Whispers of discord are said to have been growing ever louder since Labour wielded the cuts to pensioners winter fuel payments, with sources close to the council alleging that meetings have descended into shouting matches, with accusations of "selling out" and "betraying the cause" flying between factions. The ultra-left extremists are said to be accusing the centrists of diluting Labour’s socialist soul and being "the tories in disquise", whilst the centrists argue that the far-left’s idealism is 'electoral poison' in a town that’s shown that it’s willing to flirt with other parties, from the Conservatives in 2021 to Reform UK in 2025. This isn’t just internal squabbling—it’s a battle for the very identity of Labour in Hartlepool, and it’s threatening to cost them everything.

Echoes of 2019: The Fall of Christopher Akers-Belcher

Some are calling it 'the nighmare of 2019 all over again'...

If this sounds like déjà vu, well thats because it is !, You see The Hartlepool Labour Group has been here before.

Cast your mind back to 2019, when the local party was rocked by a scandal that culminated in the ousting of its then council leader, Christopher Akers-Belcher.

Akers-Belcher, a long-serving Labour stalwart, resigned from the party alongside councillors Marjorie James and Ann Marshall, citing a toxic culture of "bullying, harassment, racism, and anti-Semitism" within the local political group.

The two councillors resigned from the Labour Party to join a rival socialist group

The drama began earlier that year when Akers-Belcher’s husband, Stephen Akers-Belcher, was suspended from The Labour Party over allegations he campaigned for an opposition Party candidate.

Stephen quit the Labour party shortly thereafter, accusing Labour of ignoring homophobia, racism, and bullying whilst swiftly punishing him for his alleged disloyalty. The fallout was seismic: Christopher Akers-Belcher faced a no-confidence motion from the Constituency Labour Party, with members reportedly furious at his leadership. He claimed the party had failed to act on his complaints about discrimination, and in a final act of defiance, he and his allies defected to the Socialist Labour Party, declaring Labour was no longer their "natural home."

The 2019 saga left Labour in Hartlepool reeling. The party then lost its majority on Hartlepool Borough Council, with the resignations exposing deep divisions that had been festering within the Local Labour Group for years. Fast forward to 2025, and the parallels are said to be striking. The same accusations of factionalism and betrayal are said to be resurfacing, with the ultra-left and centrists seemingly at each other’s throats, with claims Labour's once again on the brink of another self-inflicted collapse & has less than a year to resolve its issues before Reform UK swoops in....

The May 1st By-Election: Reform UK’s Shock Victory

Reform UK's by-election win in Hartlepool was 'a shock' to Labour Party Bosses...

The warning signs for Labour became impossible to ignore on May 1, 2025, when Reform UK pulled off a stunning upset in a Hartlepool Borough Council by-election. The Throston ward, previously held by Labour’s Cameron Sharp, fell to Reform UK’s Amanda Napper, who secured a landslide victory with 889 votes to Labour’s 486. This wasn’t just a loss—it was a humiliation for Labour, who had fought tooth and nail to regain control of the council in 2024 after years of Conservative / Independent coalition rule.

Reform UK’s win marked their first council seat in Hartlepool since 2021, when a number of councillors defected to the party (then known as the Brexit Party). Napper, who came second in Hartlepool’s 2024 general election count, capitalised on local frustrations, promising to tackle anti-social behaviour and neglect in Throston. Her victory sent shockwaves through Labour’s ranks, proving that Hartlepool’s voters—once fiercely loyal—are increasingly open to alternatives. With Reform UK gaining ground in a town that voted 69.6% for Brexit in 2016, With Labour’s grip on the council now looking shakier than ever.

Tom Feeney’s Defection to Independent : The Final Straw?

Tom Feeney quit the Labour Party shortly after Reform UK took the Throston Ward Seat to serve the remainder of his term as an Independent

As if losing Throston wasn’t bad enough, Labour’s woes deepened the very next day, when Councillor Tom Feeney dropped a huge political bombshell: he was quitting the party to stand as an independent. Feeney, a councillor for Rossmere ward, had been re-elected in 2023 alongside Labour’s gains that made them the largest party on Hartlepool Borough Council. His announcement on May 2, 2025, just as Reform UK was celebrating their victory, was a gut punch to Labour’s unity.

While Feeney hasn’t publicly detailed his reasons for leaving, other than claiming it was because of Labours stance on LGBTQ rights, insiders suggest he was becoming increasingly disillusioned with the local Labour Party leadership, fearing Labour will to lose even more council seats in the coming year as Keir Starmers bid to wield cuts to welfare are set to hit towns such as Hartlepool the hardest. His defection is also said to be a chilling echo of 2019, when multiple councillors began to abandon Labour amid similar claims of a toxic internal culture.

With Feeney now an independent councillor, (despite his previous vocal critisism of Independents in the council chamber), Labour’s tally on the council now drops to 22 councillors. WHilst nowhere close to losing their majority at HBC, If more defections were to follow—or if Reform UK and independents continue to chip away at Labour’s seats next year—the party could find itself quickly out of power...

A House Divided Cannot Stand

Whilst hailed as Hartlepool's first female leader, Brenda Harrison is said to be overseeing a Local Labour Group in freefall...

Labour’s 2024 triumph, when they regained control of Hartlepool Borough Council with eight seat gains, was hailed as a “groundbreaking moment” by party insiders. It was a symbolic victory for Keir Starmer, proof that his revamped Labour could win back the Red Wall after the crushing 2021 by-election loss to the Conservatives. But just one year later, it seems that victory is quickly at risk of unraveling, where it seems the infighting between ultra-leftists and centrists, combined with defections and electoral losses, paints a picture of a party thats in total disarray.

The 2019 saga showed how quickly Labour’s dominance in Hartlepool could crumble when internal divisions then spilled out into the open. Christopher Akers-Belcher’s ousting and the subsequent resignations paved the way for a Tory-led coalition to take control of Hartlepool Borough Council which lasted for around five years. Now, with Reform UK emboldened with its latest election win in Hartlepool and councillors like Tom Feeney publicly breaking ranks, Labour in Hartlepool faces a similar fate once more. The council’s composition—23 Labour, six Conservatives, five independents, one Independent Union, and one Reform UK—means Labour’s majority is now getting ever more thinner. A single by-election loss or another defection could finally tip the balance & create a plitical 'domino effect', plunging Hartlepool Borough Council back into no overall control or even into a rival coalition...

What’s Next for Hartlepool Labour?

Its claimed Labour has just one year left at Hartlepool BC before Reform UK sweep in to take Labours Majority away from it

For Hartlepool Labour Group, the path forward seems to be fraught with peril, with everything seemingly against them. To avoid a repeat of 2019, sources claim the party must urgently bridge the divide between its warring factions. This means addressing the grievances of the ultra-left whilst reassuring the centrists that their pragmatic approach can actually deliver upon electoral success. It also means tackling the trust deficit with voters, who are clearly frustrated with Labour’s inability to deliver upon tangible change & prove that they're actually different from the Conservatives they voted out. As Councillor Brenda Harrison noted in 2024, trust is a “crucial issue” on the doorstep, and it seems Labour’s internal chaos isn’t helping matters.

The rise of Reform UK adds another layer of complexity to Labours already mounting woes. With Amanda Napper’s victory proving that Hartlepool’s voters are still very much willing to back populist outsiders, as a result Labour can no longer take their once former stronghold for granted, with the local political group being told it must articulate a clear, compelling vision that resonates with a town grappling with anti-social behaviour, economic decline, a lack of housing, and a fading high street—issues that dominated doorstep conversations in 2024.

Labours 'Ticking Time Bomb'

Labour in Hartlepool appears once again to be at a crossroads. The infighting, defections, and electoral setbacks of 2025 are eerily reminiscent of the 2019 meltdown that cost them control of the council. If Labour doesn’t act swiftly to heal its wounds, it risks squandering its hard-won gains and handing Hartlepool once again back to a coalition of independents, Conservatives, or even Reform UK. Tom Feeney’s defection and Reform’s Throston triumph are not isolated incidents—they’re warning shots of a potential collapse & a party thats seemingly looking to be ever more politically irrelevant in the thown they'd previously held for years as it seems the Labour Party is fighting not just for power, but for its very survival.