Sir Keir Starmer is facing a new grassroots rebellion against his leadership after a group of councillors quit en masse in protest against his ‘centrist’ policies.

Twenty members of Broxtowe Borough Council in Nottinghamshire have left the party, costing it control of the authority.

In a furious open letter to the PM, leader Milan Radulovic said he was ending his own personal 42-year association with the party.

He took aim at policies including the decision to make £300 winter fuel payments for pensions means-tested claiming local councillors were blocked from running for election for ‘questioning’ it.

The veteran local politician also hit out at proposals to reform local democracy with the creation of ‘super councils’ with powers over planning, saying it was ‘nothing short of a dictatorship’.

‘I cannot support and will not support another centrist government intent on destroying local democracy and dictating national policy from a high pedestal,’ he wrote.

The former Labour councillors have formed a new party, Broxtowe Independents, and plan to run the council as a minority administration, with help from other independents.

Tory former minister Robert Jenrick, the MP for Newark, said: ‘Labour are ”failing the working classes”.

‘That’s just what their own councillors say about them. Labour’s internal coalition is already falling apart.’

Sir Keir Starmer is facing a new grassroots rebellion against his leadership after a group of councillors quit en masse in protest against his ‘centrist’ policies.

Twenty members of Broxtowe Borough Council in Nottinghamshire have left the party, costing it control of the authority.

In a furious open letter to the PM, leader Milan Radulovic said he was ending his own personal 42-year association with the party.

Sir Keir Starmer hailed the past 12 months as a ‘year of change’ and insisted Britain was already starting to see the fruits of a Labour government in his new year message.

But new YouGov polling last night revealed that just 31 per cent of the electorate are upbeat about the upcoming year, with 37 per cent feeling pessimistic.

There appears to be a particular disillusionment among voters who backed Labour in July’s general election – many who did so for the first time – casting doubt over whether the party can hold on to them in 2029.

‘I cannot support and will not support another centrist government intent on destroying local democracy and dictating national policy from a high pedestal,’ Mr Radulovic wrote.

Some 46 per cent of them said they ‘expected them to do well but have been disappointed’, while just over a third say they have done well so far. The Prime Minister’s own personal ratings show the problem appears to be with both party and leader, with 42 per cent of Labour voters saying they were disappointed.

Despite earning a commanding majority in the Commons last July, Labour’s popularity has continued to falter as the Prime Minister admitted to making ‘tough decisions’ to stabilise the economy.

This included slashing the Winter Fuel Allowance and imposing harsher inheritance tax laws on farmers.

A poll from More in Common earlier this week showed Labour would lose its majority and nearly 200 seats if an election were held now.

Party insiders are also concerned about next May’s local elections after data showed that Labour have lost more than one in five council by-elections since taking office.