Labour councillor quits party over trans row

A councillor has quit the Labour Party in a row over its transgender policies.

Zoe Hughes, Exeter City Council member, said the party’s support of a ban on puberty blockers for under-18s questioning their gender identity was “a policy I refuse to stand by and accept”.

Hughes was elected as the Labour councillor for the Pennsylvania ward in May and will now serve as an Independent.

The Labour Party said it was putting the welfare of children first and its decision had been based on all of the available evidence.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting announced in December he was making the temporary ban on puberty blockers introduced in May indefinite across the UK following a consultation and advice from the Commission on Human Medicines.

Hughes said: “As a queer person, I have often felt alone and marginalised within society. However, I historically have felt that at least the Labour Party had my back.”

Hughes, who uses “they” and “them” as personal pronouns, said they were “nervous” when the Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he wanted to meet the author JK Rowling, who has expressed concerns about how trans issues affect women’s rights.

Hughes said there would be “increasing self-harm” as a result of the decision on puberty blockers in “an already vulnerable and marginalised group”.

They added: “We have let the LGBT+ community down and I want no part of it – there is no LGB without the T for me, it is that simple.”

A spokesperson for the Labour Party said children’s healthcare “must always put welfare first and be led by evidence”.

The spokesperson said the Commission on Human Medicines had “thoroughly examined all the available evidence and concluded that prescribing puberty blockers to children for the purposes of gender dysphoria represents an unacceptable safety risk in the current prescribing environment”.

The government said it was working “to improve children’s gender services to provide all-round holistic support” and was “committed to the wellbeing, safety and dignity of trans people of all ages”.

The Labour leader of Exeter City Council, Phil Bialyk, said: “I’m naturally disappointed that councillor Hughes felt they had to leave.

“I respect that decision, however, people should not underestimate the level of commitment required to be a councillor and to be a member of a political group.”

The NHS stopped the routine prescription of puberty blocker treatments to under-18s in March 2024, following the Cass Review into gender identity services.

In the independent review paediatrician Dr Hilary Cass said children had been “let down” by the lack of reliable evidence on medicine for those questioning their gender.

The review has faced criticism from some medical professionals and the British Medical Association said it would take “a neutral position” on its recommendations.