Barrow town councillor to step down
Chris Altree has announced his intention to step down
Barrow town councillor and former mayor Chris Altree has announced his intention to step down and split from the Labour Party.
Mr Altree served as the mayor of Barrow between May 2023 and May 2024 and currently serves as a councillor representing the Ormsgill ward.
He announced the news on Facebook and told the LDRS he did not wish to comment further.
His post reads: “As many of you know, life is taking me in a new direction, and I’m moving away with work. I’ll be stepping down as a councillor in a few months’ time.
“Saying that out loud feels strange because being a councillor for Ormsgill has been one of the greatest honours of my life.
“To everyone who put their faith in me back in 2023, thank you. Truly. Your support changed my life, and serving this community has been a privilege I will never forget.”
Reflecting on his time as mayor, he wrote: “My year as Mayor is something that will stay with me forever.
“Nothing will ever quite match it. Barrow is a town full of extraordinary people doing extraordinary things, and being able to represent such a place has filled me with pride, gratitude, and more emotion than I can properly put into words.”
The councillor for Ormsgill also wrote: “Some of you will already know that I left the Labour Party a few weeks ago. I’ll sit as an independent councillor until my term ends. It’s a phrase that’s been used before, but it speaks for me completely: ‘I didn’t leave the Labour Party it left me.’
“That wasn’t an easy decision, but it was the right one for me.”
He finished his post by saying: “Thank you to everyone who’s supported me, challenged me, trusted me, and believed in me. It has meant more than you’ll ever know.”