Tory Councillor Jumps Ship
Paul McLaughlin
John Rankin has resigned from the Conservative Party group on Hastings Borough Council and will now sit as an independent. He will continue to represent the Conquest Ward.
Speaking to the Hastings Independent Press, Councillor Rankin said his decision was taken after becoming increasingly disenchanted with the Conservative Party and the way the party has changed since the Brexit referendum in 2016. He said the party has “become more right wing and adopted policies which were anti-business and authoritarian.”
He was first elected to the council in 2016, taking 56% of the vote, a marked increase in the Conservative share of the vote from the previous election in 2014. He retained the seat in 2022, albeit with a reduced majority, taking 48% of the vote in the safe Tory ward.
Councillor Rankin says he has been subjected to “torrents of abuse” in recent months from fellow party members “because of his pro-EU views and his refusal to embrace the new Eurosceptic orthodoxy which has taken over the party.”
Matters came to a head earlier this year, when, as acting Chair of the Hasting and Rye Conservative Association, sitting MP Sally-Ann Hart failed to get the support of her Executive for her automatic reselection. With 14 members present on the evening, the Executive was split 7-7 in a secret ballot and was therefore unable to put her name forward.
Under Conservative Party rules, this triggered a ballot of the wider membership of the constituency party and in the subsequent vote, Sally-Ann Hart secured the support of 89% of members.
The local Conservative Association was then convulsed with bitter ‘blue-on-blue’ infighting, and Mr Rankin believes he was blamed for the Executive’s failure to endorse Mrs Hart’s candidacy. He strenuously denies any attempt to remove her as MP, however.
He resigned as acting chair just a couple of weeks later, but said the fallout was such that he found himself “increasingly having to endure abuse” from fellow party members.
Councillor Rankin will now sit as an independent councillor. He said he will not resign his seat, nor join another party. He said he will continue to represent “all of his constituents” in the Conquest Ward until 2026.
The Conservative group on the council now has 10 members. The ruling Labour group has 15. The Greens have five seats and Reform UK, one – his erstwhile colleague, Councillor Lucian Fernando, who represents the Silverhill Ward and who also left the Tory group back in May.
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Over here in Bexhill we have plenty of independent Councillors. Perhaps some Hastings residents can get together and support one or two fully independent candidates in future local elections. Many people are fed up with the Westminster political parties. This could be your chance to make a difference and simply represent local people without party interference.