A former Labour general secretary has criticised Sir Keir Starmer as she announced she had joined the Green Party.
Jennie Formby, who managed Labour from 2018 to 2020, said she would be campaigning for Zack Polanski’s party ahead of the local elections on May 7.
She accused the Prime Minister of not having “a set of principles” adding that the Greens have “some important policies on workers’ rights” which made me want to join.
Ms Formby, who was an ally of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, told the Guardian: “Zack and the Greens are not scared to talk about economic justice and tax increases.
“I am increasingly concerned by seeing the extent to which Labour is in hock to corporate sponsors.”
She added: “Keir was elected on a bunch of things he immediately reneged on. He does not have a set of principles which he is willing to stick to.”
Ms Formby began voting Green in 2022 but joined the party as a member four months ago.
A Labour source said: "The Green Party has the wrong answers for Britain. Whether it's opposing housing and clean energy schemes across the country, or their lack of serious and credible proposals on the challenges facing working people, Zack Polanski's party are not the answer.
"Through the biggest upgrade to workers' rights in a generation, lifting nearly half a million kids out of poverty, and building the homes this country needs, it's only Labour that has the progressive answers for our country.
“We're taking action to ease the cost of living, get the NHS back on its feet, and restore pride in our communities."
Ms Formby’s defection is the latest in string of former Labour figures joining the Green Party.
More than 50 Labour representatives have joined the Greens since the 2024 general election.
It comes as polls suggest Mr Polanski’s party are set to make significant gains in London at the upcoming council elections at the expense of Sir Keir and Labour.
Labour could lose its top vote share position in as many as 14 councils in London, the YouGov survey revealed on Wednesday.
It laid out the scale of the hammering threatening Sir Keir’s party in two weeks’ time as its vote share in the capital is predicted to nosedive from 42% at the 2022 borough elections to just 26%.
The Conservatives are forecast to be down nine percentage points to 17%, and a new historic low in London local government.
The poll of more than 4,500 Londoners was focused on vote share in each borough, and who will come first, rather than council or seat wins.
The central prediction of the detailed analysis was Labour could fall from having the most votes in 21 councils to 15, down six from the local elections four years ago when it won the former Tory strongholds of Westminster, Wandsworth and Barnet.
