The only independent councillor on a Merseyside local authority said he has been able to focus more on community work since he left the Labour Party in March.
Cllr Karl Greaney is Wirral Council’s only independent councillor and represents Leasowe and Moreton East in the north of the peninsula.
He had been a member of the Labour Party since 1981 and became a councillor in 2019, quickly taking on the position of Chief Whip within the Labour group.
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Cllr Greaney was chief whip for two and a half years before he resigned from the post over a disagreement with the Labour Party over an investigation into a complaint made against another councillor.
He said it became “one person was saying one thing and the other was saying another” and “you could never get to the bottom of it.” Cllr Greaney said he was asked to drop the complaint and was disciplined for refusing to do so.
He said he was not given the opportunity to appeal and so resigned from his post and as a Labour councillor in March. Months later though, he said: “I do not want to rehash it.”
While he said some councillors had asked if he would rejoin, he added, "unless there is an apology, that isn’t going to happen.”
Cllr Greaney said it had been difficult to leave the political party he had been part of for forty years but said things are more positive now as it has allowed him “to do what I want to do."
He added: “There’s no way I could stay but the plus of being an independent is to focus on what I was elected to do and serve the community.
“It has certainly been good for me. I have done more and more community work recently than I had done in three years. It’s given me more time for what I came here to do. You just get sucked into party politics.”
He said he has raised people’s concerns about the controversial Fender Lane cycle route as well as waste, overgrown alleyways and anti-social behaviour.
Cllr Greaney said it was tough being an independent because “you don’t have that infrastructure support” of being a member of a political party but praised officers’ help with addressing people’s concerns.
He also said he has been in touch with other independent councillors in other parts of the region as well as Wales and more nationally, considering it “an opportunity.”
He plans to stand as an independent in the upcoming council elections in May 2023 and thinks the move to all-outs with every seat on the Wirral contested could be an advantage for independent councillors.
Cllr Greaney said: “I think I have got quite a lot of support, with a team of about 25 to 30 people supporting me. The big difference is the all-outs. In a normal election, I would struggle as an independent."
He hopes to remind “people that you have got three votes” and they use one of them to vote for him.
A Labour Party spokesperson when Cllr Greaney resigned in March said: “We are disappointed that Cllr Greaney has taken the decision to resign from the Labour Party. We wish Cllr Greaney well for the future.”
The Labour Party at the time felt it had instructed Cllr Greaney to follow proper processes and procedures regarding a complaint, but he refused to follow these instructions and was issued with a written warning.
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