A by-election will be held after the shock departure of the Whetstone councillor, reports David Floyd

Hendon Town Hall and (inset) Liron Velleman (credit Barnet Council)

A Barnet Labour councillor dramatically quit this morning (Wednesday 2nd) after it emerged that he had been removed from the borough’s Labour group.

Barnet Post asked Barnet Labour group about the status of Whetstone councillor Liron Velleman yesterday (Tuesday 1st) after it emerged that his party affiliation had been changed from Labour to ‘independent’.

However, the request for comment was passed to the Labour Party’s London regional team who told the Post this morning: “Liron Velleman has resigned from Barnet Council and is no longer a member of the Labour Party.”

When asked for clarification, the spokesperson said that they were not currently able to comment further.

Up until yesterday, the former councillor had been described on his profile on X (formerly Twitter) as head of politics at the Community trade union. As of today, both this job role and his position as Whetstone councillor have been removed from the profile with just “Arsenal FC, Sussex CCC, tennis fan” remaining.

The Post understand that steps have been taken to call a by-election in Whetstone ward however the date has not yet been announced.

Velleman was elected for the first time in Whetstone ward as part of Labour’s victory in the 2022 elections. Although the ward was regarded as being new due to boundary changes, Velleman and his Labour colleague Ella Rose defeated incumbent Conservative councillors Thomas Smith and Sachin Rajput.

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