Dylan Tippetts – one of Labour’s only trans councillors – has quit the party, accusing it of “throwing trans people under the bus”.
The councillor, who has sat on Plymouth City Council since 2022, wrote in a post on X: “I cannot continue to represent a party that does not support my fundamental rights. I cannot as a trans person continue to support the Labour party.”
Tippetts, who will now sit as an independent and confirmed he would not seek re-election, added: “The Labour party nationally has thrown transgender people under the bus and has taken us backwards decades. Everyone deserves the right to live peacefully, and the Labour party continues to deny transgender people that basic right.”
— Cllr Dylan Tippetts (@Dylan4Compton) May 9, 2025
Tippett’s resignation comes after Prime Minister Keir Starmer welcomed the “clarity” provided by the Supreme Court’s ruling on biological sex, which will affect trans people up and down the country. The ruling was followed by subsequent advice from the Equality and Humans Rights Commission, which slipped out with minimal consultation with affected communities, and suggests blanket exclusions for trans women from women’s spaces – a stance that legal experts warn may itself violate existing equality protections and human rights standards.
The prime minister had previously said that “trans women are women”, but asked to repeat that statement on Tuesday, 22 April he said the ruling had “answered that question”.
Downing Street was subsequently asked if Sir Keir still believes that ‘trans women are women” with his official spokesman saying: “No, the Supreme Court judgement has made clear that when looking at the Equality Act, a woman is a biological woman. That is set out clearly by the court judgement.”
His comments came after the Labour equalities minister Bridget Phillipson welcomed the ruling, saying trans women should use male toilets, adding that “services should be accessed on the basis of biological sex”.
