A Sefton Labour member claims she has been prevented from standing for election in May because she supported a funding campaign for her area.
Cllr Yvonne Sayers, who has represented the Sudell ward in Maghull for the past four years, said she was deselected by the Maghull Labour Party after giving her backing to the Fair Deal for Maghull campaign. The Fair Deal Campaign aims to secure funding from Sefton Council for the benefit of Maghull, Lydiate and Aintree.
Members of the group claim funds have been unfairly allocated elsewhere across the borough. Cllr Sayers told the ECHO that during a meeting of the Maghull branch of the Labour Party last month, she was removed as the candidate for Ludell ward as a result of her support for the controversial movement.
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She said: "We are standing up for Maghull, but because I'm up for election I'm an easy target, but Sefton Council have kept the money and it is a lot of money. It's something that should have been ours.
"It’s not something that Sefton Council got from some cash deposit, it's money from developments in Maghull because of the heavy building work in this area.
"Section 106 money is given from developers who are building here. £30,000 of the money was taken for the new Aldi and £18,000 went to Green Sefton for the coastline."
However, the Labour party told the ECHO that Cllr Sayers was not able to stand as a Labour councillor due to her lack of campaigning activity. Her husband and fellow councillor John Sayers, who represents Park ward, disputed the party's stance.
He said: "That is just a smoke and mirrors tactic. Yvonne was deselected with four days to go before the close of nominations.
"She easily could have achieved the credits and all you need to do is post about 60 leaflets to get one credit, it takes about an hour. Campaigning only started on 28th March and will run to 5th May. There will be a lot of councillors who will not have the full 12 credits yet."
Cllr Sayers said she is still currently a member of the Labour Party but said she expects to be expelled from the party when she stands as an independent in the upcoming elections in May. Sefton Council has been approached for comment but were unable to respond at this time.
However, they did confirm Cllr Sayers would be standing as an independent candidate.
