BLACKBURN with Darwen Council’s Liberal Democrat Lazarus Paul Browne is bidding for a third election comeback as Labour seeks to protect its East Lancashire political fortress from a party rebellion over the Gaza conflict.

Coming back from his second retirement, the veteran is now standing as an Independent in May 2’s poll in Darwen East having fallen out with his former party over Gaza.

This shows it is not just Labour which is having problems with the Israel/Hamas conflict or indeed the Tories whose social media star Tiger Patel is going it alone having quit over the Palestinians’ plight and switched wards from Audley and Queens Park to Little Harwood and Whitebirk.

With the balance of power on the council now 31 Labour, 11 Conservatives, seven ‘4BwD’ Labour rebels and two other independents it would take a political earthquake of massive proportions to see the borough rulers unseated.

But with 4BwD backing 10 candidates and Mr Brown and Cllr Patel having a strong personal following it could be a difficult night for borough leader Cllr Phil Riley especially after Rochdale by-election victor George Galloway MP rolled into town with his Workers Party of Britain bandwagon to back the Independents.

The highest profile Labour figure on the ballot paper is the authority’s education boss Cllr Julie Gunn in the normally safe Mill Hill and Moorgate ward where Independent Natasha Shah, who claims she is being boycotted by sections of the Muslim community because she campaigns for LGBTQ rights, could split the vote.

In a normal year Labour would expect to win the majority of the 17 wards up for grabs but this is far from a normal election.

There are also four Green Party candidates, including former Voice contestant Denise Morgan, to add variety to the electoral menu.

Mr Browne does not mince his words on his new Independent incarnation saying: “I am standing in Darwen because people in the street stopped me and asked me to.

“I told them I was not standing as a Lib Dem but as an Independent because I am not happy with the way the party has handled the Israel/Palestine problem.

“What is happening in the Gaza Strip is disgusting.

“The Israelis talk about what Adolf Hitler did to the Jews but they are doing exactly the same to the Palestinians.”

Cllr Riley said: “Blackburn with Darwen Labour Group wants to be judged on the way that they have managed the local economy in difficult times for councils.

“It has produced a balanced budget and not had to make any cuts in the services that local people rely on and in some of the areas of council activity that matter most to residents, we have actually been able to increase service provision.

“We have continued to attract new businesses in both Blackburn and Darwen.

“We want to encourage new housing that will improve the housing stock in the borough as this is the simplest way to improve the lifestyle and wellbeing of many residents.

“The war in Palestine has caused a great deal of anger and sadness. There is very little the council can do in the face of this international conflict but both the council and MP Kate Hollern, have taken every possible step to bring the concerns of borough residents to the attention of both the government and the opposition party in Parliament.”

Cllr Mustafa Desai, who leads the 4BwD group said: “The Independent candidates are not a political party but a loosely-associated group providing the disaffected electorate an alternative to the two mainstream parties.

“The independent candidates if elected are in the unique position of being able to join the already established 4BwD Independent Group and thus increasing representation as an opposition group to assume roles on various committees.”

Conservative group leader Cllr John Slater said: “People should vote Tory in Blackburn with Darwen because we have some excellent champions for their local community with proven track records.

“It is time for Blackburn with Darwen to say no to the same old Labour rubbish.

“Labour in the borough costs people more and delivers less.

“Residents should remember on May 2 this is about local issues not national issues. It is time for a change.”

Green Party campaign co-ordinator and Wensley Fold candidate Robin Field said: “Most people today, I think, have a sense that things just aren’t going right.

“As the Green Party, we want to do things differently, address the real causes. We promote quality of life over just over ever-growing consumption; sustainability and community values over desperate promises for ever more economic growth."