A BARNSLEY MP who is among a small group quitting the party to form a new independent group of MPs says the Labour party is ‘completely broken’.

Angela Smith, MP for Penistone and Stocksbridge since 2010, has announced her resignation from the party on Monday this week and will continue to serve her constituency sitting as an independent in Parliament.

She said she had been a member of the Labour Party since she was 16 but has been ‘deeply unhappy with the changes’ in the party.

Speaking to the Barnsley Chronicle, Ms Smith said: “I decided to leave the party as I had lost hope in it. The current state of the party is awful, we have seen bullying, racism and intolerance. There is an insistence that members should reflect the views of the leadership. Political parties can’t work like that, you can’t squash the views of members like that.

“There’s a risk Jeremy Corbyn poses to the country.”

Talking about the Independent Group, which is currently made up of eight former Labour MPs and three former Tory MPs, Ms Smith said: “This is special about what we are doing as we are made up of former Labour and Conservative MPs. We don’t think any political parties are competent and we know there are a large number of people who feel they are politically homeless.”

The MP also answered a question about potential calls for a by-election by saying: “I am still the same person, I have not changed and my views have not changed.

“Look at the platform I stood in in 2017, I made it clear I was an independent minded MP. I made it clear what my views were, I made it clear that I supported the need for a nuclear deterrent. Nobody can say that I have changed.”

Last year, Ms Smith said she would continue on despite a no confidence vote from her constituency.

The members voted 27 to 20 to express no confidence in their MP.

Pete Bevis, acting chairman of the Labour Party constituency of Penistone and Stocksbridge said he was disappointed that Ms Smith that Ms Smith had been ‘distancing herself for a while’.

Mr Bevis said: “We (the constituency) had decided a no confidence motion was necessary.

“I am very disappointed that before releasing her resignation statement and before all the matters in the press that she did not get in contact to tell her constituency about her decision to leave the Labour Party.

“Some of her views are very different to those in her constituents. She has spoken before about being in favour of fracking, even though this could affect her constituents and they could suffer from the impact of fracking.

“She is now part of a group that is a private company which is not registered as a political party. As the group is not registered, it does not have to disclose any of its funding it receives from anybody. That is a democratic deficiency as other parties are compliant with the appropriate regulations and where funding comes from, so everyone knows where they stand. This needs urgent action.”

A statement from the constituency reads: “The resignation of Angela Smith is a matter of sadness and regret for the CLP.

“We at Penistone and Stocksbridge CLP, would like to thank Angela for her service as Member of Parliament for the Constituency.

“Given the huge speculation that has surrounded her, following statements she made in recent days, her resignation has been less of a surprise than it might otherwise have been. Many in the constituency will be hugely dismayed by her resignation and some may feel she has let her constituents down by taking the action she has.

“Nevertheless, we hope that she will take the honourable path of resigning her seat and standing as an independent in the constituency which will give her supporters an opportunity to voice their support and allow the Labour Party to move on and challenge her at the ballot box.”