Former Rotherham cabinet member and MP hopeful leaves Labour party

Councillor Dominic Beck, former cabinet member for transport and environment, confirmed he has left the Labour Party, and will see out the rest of his term as an independent councillor.

He was first elected to the council in 2011 aged 19, and was appointed to councillor Chris Read’s cabinet 2016.

He was selected as Labour’s candidate for the Rother Valley seat but withdrew following backlash.

Labour’s decision to select Coun Beck prompted criticism online and from national news outlets, as he had been a member of the cabinet for seven months in 2014 when Professor Alexis Jay published a report into child sexual exploitation.

The cabinet resigned in order to allow commissioners control of the council, and Coun Beck was one of the cabinet members reappointed in 2016.

Councillor Beck said that it was “100 per cent” his choice to resign from the party but did not wish to comment further.