THE councillor who led the charge against the “optical illusion” cycle lane in Keynsham has quit the Conservative Party while warning the party had been “no good at all” for local Tories.

Alan Hale represents Keynsham South on Bath and North East Somerset (B&NES) Council. In last year’s local elections which saw the Conservatives “wiped out” to just three seats on the council, he was the only Conservative to hold his seat.

Now, just days into the general election campaign, he is leaving the party.

In a statement posted on social media, Mr Hale said: “I have been considering my future position as a Conservative councillor within Bath and North East Somerset Council.

“I have taken time to seek advice and thoughts from a number of my constituents, as well as having conversations with the Conservative leader councillor Tim Warren OBE, a man who I have great respect for.

“It is my intention to leave the B&NES Conservative group and to continue to serve my constituents within Keynsham South as an Independent councillor.”

With just two councillors, the Conservatives are now the smallest group on B&NES Council. It is the first time that Keynsham — the largest town in Jacob Rees-Mogg’s constituency — has had no Conservative councillors on the council since it was created in 1996.

Mr Hale said: “The national situation with the Conservative Party has had a great influence on my decision. It began sometime back when PM David Cameron resigned because he had not received the backing of the people in the referendum, this was to my mind an act of petulance on his part.

“Under his leadership the then Home Secretary, Theresa May, had commenced the undermining and dangerous reduction in numbers of the police service. An action she continued to compound when she became prime minister. The policing levels in Keynsham bear witness to her work.

“Boris Johnson became Prime Minister and provided spirited leadership, achieving a vast majority in the following election. He achieved Brexit and also led the country through the pandemic. Sadly in my mind he was then ‘assassinated’ by many of his fellow MPs.”

Mr Hale has been a Conservative councillor for Keynsham South for 17 years and is the council’s member advocate for road safety. He’s been a leading voice in calling for the “optical illusion” cycle lane on the town’s high street to be fixed. Since it was installed in 2022, scores of people have missed the kerb and tripped and fallen in the cycle lane, which has seen the town’s councillors on Bath and North East Somerset Council of all political stripes unite to call for action.

Mr Hale said: “I would wish to make it clear to my constituents that my service to them will not change. I have committed much of my life since 2007 in serving them and being an advocate for them in a variety of ways.”

The current makeup of B&NES Council: