Exmouth’s first Labour councillor in 47 years, Dan Wilson, has left the party to stand as an independent in the general election.

Cllr Wilson, who is running in the new Exmouth and Exeter East constituency, became Exmouth’s first Labour town and district councillor for the best part of half a century when he secured his seat last year.

But he blamed what he called the national party’s decision to “renege” on certain policies, which he felt impeded his ability to represent the party, as well as other issues, including its initial lack of interest in investigating allegations about the behaviour of a former candidate, for his decision to leave.

“The policies of the Labour Party went a bit further away from mine, and so I didn’t feel I could represent the party given the way it was going,” he said.

“They have reneged on the Green New Deal, and the lifting of the child benefit cap, and in terms of the situation with Gaza and Israel, I was very much against the full-throated support for [Israeli prime minister Benjamin] Netanyahu bombing refugee camps, under the guise of Israel protecting itself.”

Cllr Wilson acknowledged Labour had now come out in favour of a ceasefire, but felt the time it had taken the party to change its stance was “shameful”.

Cllr Wilson, who was the party’s candidate for the East Devon seat in the 2019 election, added that he was also a whistleblowing, telling the party’s regional management about a former candidate who he claimed had a “reputation for poor behaviour,” but that the party “wasn’t interested at all”.

He continued: “When I was in the Labour Party, that’s the kind of thing I expected of the Conservatives, and I felt [the Labour party] should hold itself up to higher standards.”

Cllr Wilson said after he left the party in March, having notified them the month before that he would no longer be standing for Labour, the candidate he had complained about was subsequently suspended.

He added that after he left Labour, the party contacted him to say it had retrospectively kicked the former candidate out of the party.

In terms of his campaign, Mr Wilson said the area had a “much stronger history for independent voting” than many others.

Former independent candidate Claire Wright secured what many regarded as a remarkable 40 per cent of the vote in 2019 for the now defunct East Devon seat.

Ms Wright’s tally of 25,869 meant she was the independent candidate with the highest number of votes in a general election, bar two; Martin Bell (1997–2001) and Richard Taylor (2001–2010). However, most other political parties stood aside for both candidates on both occasions.

Ms Wright is supporting Paul Arnott, the Liberal Democrat, in the campaign to become Exmouth and Exeter East’s MP.

But Mr Wilson said this didn’t mean her supporters would automatically follow.

“[The Lib Dems] are hoping that a lot of people will be sat at home being told by Claire who to vote for, and while her endorsement is positive for Paul, you have to offer more than ‘Claire Wright thinks I’m good’.”

Asked if independent voters from 2019 would automatically back him, he said there was a “history of people voting for independent candidates before Claire”.

“East Devon District Council has more independents than any other political party has,” he said.

“In this constituency there are eight independent councillors, and while a lot of people in this constituency don’t vote Conservative, there’s not an area of it that you would say is a real Lib Dem area.”

Labour was contacted for a response but said it did not comment on internal party matters.

The full interview is on Devoncast, the podcast from Radio Exe, and will be broadcast on Devoncast Radio for a week from Friday 14 June.