Eight members of Hastings Borough Council, including its leader, have resigned from the Labour Party.
It leaves Labour with seven councillors and makes the Conservatives, who have 10, the authority’s largest political group.
The council’s leader, deputy leader, and four cabinet members quit the Labour Party on 14 December and said they were joining a new independents group.
They said in a statement: ‘There are many reasons, but our view is that standing up for Hastings, and especially for our residents, will be much easier as independents.
‘The national Labour Party no longer provides us with the policies, the support or the focus on local government that we need given the many local issues we are committed to tackling.’
Two other former Labour councillors, Mike Turner and Nigel Sinden, have since left the party.
Cllr Turner said: ‘When Keir Starmer stood as leader of the Labour Party I supported him, however I’m now ashamed to admit that I did as he endorsed the war crime of cutting off water and electricity to Palestinians in Gaza, while Labour’s position to not support a ceasefire has been a complete disgrace.’
He added that there had been a ‘dereliction of local democracy’ within the party recently, and said councillors had been unable to select parliamentary or council candidates.
Cllr Sinden said he was becoming an independent so he could speak up for residents' concerns 'without putting a political party's views first'.
