A councillor has quit the Labour Party in a row over its transgender policies. Zoe Hughes, Exeter City Council member, said the party's support of a ban on puberty blockers for under-18s questioning their gender identity was "a policy I refuse to stand by and accept".

Twenty Labour councillors have quit the party in protest at its direction under the leadership of Sir Keir Starmer, accusing the prime minister of having "abandoned traditional Labour values".

On Thursday, 20 members of Broxtowe Borough Council in Nottinghamshire, confirmed they had left Labour to form Broxtowe Independents. Richard MacRae, leader of the Broxtowe Independent Group, said the new party's name was "not only misleading but undermines the integrity and clarity of political representation in our area".