Norfolk's last-remaining UKIP councillor has left the party stating she was not willing to support a party which did not support her.
Carrie-Amy Talbot has been a borough councillor for the Central and Northgate ward since 2019.
During her tenure, she represented the UK Independence Party, but she has now withdrawn her membership to the party.
"I'd thought long and hard about this, and I am going independent," said Mrs Talbot, 37.
"I will see through the rest of my tenure as an independent and I'm hoping to continue my success if I get re-elected in 2023. All I want to do is help people and I want to make our little piece of Great Yarmouth just a little bit better."
Mrs Talbot said one of her reasons to become independent was because she felt the party "had lost its way" and was not offering support to its existing councillors.
"You'd think they'd want to know why their councillors are leaving," she said.
"And their ignorance is one of the reasons I've left."
The councillor said she first had thoughts of becoming independent following her unsuccessful candidacy for the Yarmouth North and Central division in the 2021 Norfolk County Council elections. Mrs Talbot said she felt UKIP had not supported her bid to become a county councillor.
"I should not have to chase my party for support - their support should have been there from the start," she said.
"The fact it wasn't, makes me feel they don't care, and that they don't want to support people at a local level."
Mrs Talbot said her main reason for becoming an independent councillor was that "party politics has no place in local government".
She added: "My focus has always been on the community, and I've always tried to focus on what is best for the people in my area.
"I can never be a member of a whipped party because you are told which way to vote.
"In an ideal world, we would have a chamber filled with independents. You would have people putting their residents first and not their party's national agenda.
"Being independent means I'm free to fully act on my ward's behalf. I feel I've basically been an independent councillor since day one.
"Now, I've just made it official."
For people in the Central and Northgate Ward, Mrs Talbot's email address is cllr.carrie.talbot@great-yarmouth.gov.uk
A response from UKIP
UKIP's chairman Ben Walker said Mrs Talbot "was an effective councillor" and the party was "very sorry" to lose her. But they found her comments of feeling unsupported "at odds with the truth somewhat".
Mr Walker said: "Her regional chairman fully supported her, even paying for her trip to the national party conference last year.
"She was thought of highly throughout the party which was fortified by asking her to speak at party conferences - all expenses paid, featuring her in our local manifesto, providing her a free laptop and a promise of full campaigning support in the hope of getting her re-elected next year, coupled with numerous offers of support and time dedicated to her by party officials."
Mr Walker accused Mrs Talbot's departure as a "political misjudgement" and "opportunistic" in a bid to make her re-electable in the next borough council elections.
He added: "We thank her for the work she has done for our party, and we wish her well in the next election cycle, which unfortunately won't be one to remember for the independents."
The rise and fall of UKIP
Starting in 1993, the UK Independence Party (UKIP) focused on one key issue: getting Britain out of the European Union.
Through the 1990s and much of the early 2000s, the party was seen as more of a pressure group on the periphery of national politics.
However, under the helm of leader Nigel Farage, UKIP gained popularity as a viable choice for voters with their emphasis on being a "truly representative party".
On a local level, UKIP had won many council seats - including having 12 councillors for Great Yarmouth Borough following the 2016 local elections.
During the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum on June 23, 2016, almost three-quarters (71.5pc) of Great Yarmouth voters opted for leave.
Following Brexit and the departure of Mr Farage, UKIP's popularity has dwindled, with chair for the Eastern Region Richard Fullerton saying "we have become invisible" at their national party conference held in Skegness on October 10.
With Mrs Talbot's departure from the party, UKIP now has only six councillors across the country, according to Open Council Data UK.
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