PM Keir Starmer has been dealt a dramatic new year blow after 20 councillors from a single local authority quit Labour in protest over his policies.

The members of Broxtowe Council in Nottinghamshire said the government had “abandoned traditional Labour values,” citing in particular the cutting of winter fuel payments for pensioners.

Council leader Milan Radulovic, a party member for 42 years, is among those quitting, leaving just six Labour councillors on the authority.

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

The departures also reflect concern at plans to abolish district councils and anger at heavy-handed interference in councillor selections by regional Labour officialdom.

“I believe the concentration of power in the hands of fewer people and the abolition of local democracy through the current proposals of super councils is nothing short of a dictatorship, where local elected members, local people and local residents will have no say over the type and level of service provided in their area,” Mr Radulovic said.

The councillors aim to form a new grouping and to run Broxtowe as a minority administration, with the support of around 100 local members who have also left the party.

Starmer has suffered heavy losses at local authority level over the last year, with more than 100  councillors quitting in protest at his support for Israel’s Gaza genocide and the stifling of party democracy.