A leadership dispute has led to a split within the Independents for Bath and North East Somerset (B&NES) Council group, with former leader Karen Walker stepping down from the group.
Councillor Walker, representing Peasedown, initially stated she left Independents for B&NES to better serve her constituents as an unaligned independent councillor outside of any formal group. However, her departure followed a vote in which she was removed as the leader of the group. She subsequently sought to join another independent group but was declined membership.
Gavin Heathcote, also from Peasedown and now leader of Independents for B&NES, remarked, “She left before she was pushed. It has nothing to do with deciding what is best for our residents.” Mr Heathcote had challenged Ms Walker’s leadership, aiming to lead the group into the 2027 local elections. He won a vote among the group’s three councillors to assume leadership. Ms Walker contested this change, commenting that Mr Heathcote lacked sufficient experience and was not the best candidate to lead the group.
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The split traces back to April 2025, when Ms Walker and Mr Heathcote broke away from the original Independent Group to form Independents for B&NES alongside newly elected independent Chris Warren from Saltford. The Independent Group had refused to admit Mr Warren due to concerns over an offensive account on X (formerly Twitter) linked to him, which posted controversial content targeting the council, politicians, and minorities. Mr Warren has denied any involvement and stated the tweets did not reflect his views, although some tweets were found amusing by him.
Currently, Mr Warren and Mr Heathcote remain members of Independents for B&NES, with Mr Heathcote as leader of the two-member group. Ms Walker now sits as an unaligned councillor and had approached the Independent Group about rejoining. The Independent Group, represented by spokesperson Shaun Hughes (Midsomer Norton North), decided it was not appropriate for her to rejoin at this time, a decision Ms Walker accepted “with good grace.”
Independent councillors frequently form groups to access funding and committee positions determined by political proportionality. Aside from the two independent groups, the council includes three unaligned independent councillors: Ms Walker, Grant Johnson (Paulton), and Bharat Pankhania (Combe Down).
Mr Johnson left Labour in January due to disagreements with the party’s national direction. Dr Pankhania departed the Liberal Democrats in July after reposting a tweet alleging an arson attack on Jewish charity ambulances was an “Israeli false flag.” He has apologised and indicated he will resign as a councillor.
The council remains dominated by the Liberal Democrats with 38 seats. Labour serves as the official opposition with six councillors, while the Green Party holds three seats and the Conservatives two. The Independent Group maintains five members, and Independents for B&NES now has two.