A Liberal Democrat councillor in Sutton has quit the party after sending a fiery email to colleagues, describing the group as “toxic” and overly focused on leafleting targets. The attack, which singles out Sutton’s Council Leader, deals an uncomfortable blow to the long-running Lib Dem administration just months before May’s local elections.
In an email sent to all 54 other Sutton councillors yesterday morning, Patrick Ogbonna announced he was leaving the Liberal Democrats, the party he has represented as councillor for The Wrythe ward since 2022. Ogbonna laid bare his grievances with the Lib Dem administration — which has controlled Sutton Council since 1990 — in a lengthy and wide-ranging list of complaints.
Council Leader Barry Lewis was named in the opening lines of the email, as Ogbonna criticised him and the council for what he saw as an obsessive focus on political leafleting targets.
He stated: “I recently met with the so-called ‘Leader’ (whom I never voted for, by the way) of Sutton Council to discuss my leafleting and canvassing ratio.
“At the meeting I was informed I was ‘the worst performing candidate in the history of the Lib Dems’. I have been called worse, but let’s put that aside. I informed Barry that, as a working father and primary carer to my five-year-old daughter, family was and always will remain my priority — unlike some in the group who are unencumbered with young children and juggling childcare and work.
“Mr Lewis was informed that, in any open organisation, people should not be treated as a homogeneous mass. They set ‘leafletting targets’ without consultation or regard for individual circumstances.
“Mr Lewis told me I would be placed on a ‘reserve list’ of candidates so they could appoint someone more prolific in leafleting who has nothing else to do. I told him to stick it. I know my worth — my parents didn’t raise no fool.”
Later in the email, Ogbonna said: “Lewis is not a leader; he never was and never will be.” He added: “A leader is someone who others are prepared to follow. He is incompetent, inept, blustering and tends to make totally inappropriate, offensive comments.”
On leafleting, Ogbonna said: “I know the usual suspects — the ones who sit next to you in meetings without acknowledging your presence — will say, ‘Good riddance, he didn’t do much leafleting or canvassing anyway.’ If my character and personality are judged and valued by how many doors I knock on, or leaflets I deliver, then yes, I am that bad person.”
Ogbonna, the sole Black member of Sutton Council, also accused the Lib Dem administration of “racism and unconscious bias” in his list of reasons for leaving the party. He described the party as fostering a “toxic culture”, claiming some members are illiberal, two-faced, or motivated by self-interest rather than serving residents.
He cited former councillor David Bartolucci’s decision to step down as a turning point. Bartolucci, the former Deputy Council Leader, left the council last year after an extended absence from council business.
The LDRS understands that Bartolucci, who previously served as Chair of the Housing, Economy and Business Committee, had grown increasingly disillusioned with the party. Bartolucci’s departure triggered a by-election in Sutton Central, which was won by the Lib Dems, with Richard Choi taking the seat.
Ogbonna also accused the administration of prioritising policies such as trees, 20mph zones and grass verges over residents’ concerns. He further claimed the party treated “grown adults as if they are children,” adding: “This is totally unacceptable.”
Ogbonna also said he was repeatedly belittled for winning his seat in The Wrythe, near Carshalton, by a “mere 50 votes.” Following his list of complaints, Ogbonna said: “One thing life has taught me: if you are working in a toxic environment get out before the toxicity destroys you.”
However, his anger was not directed at all Lib Dem members. He said: “To those in the party who actually know me, I respect you and it’s been a pleasure working alongside you.”
Acknowledging Sutton’s other political factions, Ogbonna said: “For all members of the ‘opposition’ (how I hate that word — it smacks of gang wars and tribalism), you know I have always been genuine and treated/communicated with you all with dignity, humility and respect.”
Closing his email, Ogbonna said: “Funnily enough, I actually feel a sense of freedom!”
Despite his decision to leave, Ogbonna will remain a councillor and said he is now considering whether to stand as an independent in May’s local elections. His departure leaves the Lib Dems with 28 seats on Sutton Council, maintaining their overall majority.
His email came just hours after Sutton’s last council meeting before the local elections on Monday (March 2), where the council approved its budget for 2026/27. The budget included a 4.99% increase in council tax to take effect in April, alongside tributes to the outgoing Mayor, Councillor Louise Phelan, and retiring councillors.
However, the most revealing moments of the two-hour meeting were reserved for discussion on the Lib Dems’ leafleting. Richard Johnson, a resident, asked Council Leader Lewis to reconsider the party’s decision to “bombard” households with “unwelcome” political leaflets, citing environmental concerns.
Lewis rejected the call, saying that online leafleting is more susceptible to disinformation. In a supplementary question, Johnson asked: “Will you agree to fine the registered address on all wayward political leaflets soon to be found blowing around our public realm?” Lewis did not directly respond.
Later in the meeting, Independent Beddington councillor Nick Mattey called the Lib Dems “a leafleting cult.” Mattey, a former Lib Dem himself, also raised a number of issues later echoed by Ogbonna in his resignation email.
In a blistering attack on the party seated to his left in the council chamber, he said the current committee system “is the reason why these councillors are incapable of thinking independently because they know that should they step out of line, they could be deselected.”
Referring to the allowances received by committee chairs, he added that the system allows “everybody to get lots and lots of money while keeping their mouths shut when they want to disagree.” He added: “It makes North Korea look democratic.”
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service after the meeting, Mattey said: “Relations within the Lib Dems in Sutton have turned very nasty. Over the past few years, the Sutton Liberal Democrats have experienced a series of high-profile departures and deselections that raise questions about internal fighting and decision-making.”
Elsewhere in the meeting, councillors addressed ongoing concerns over breaches at the Beddington Incinerator and the recent approval of the London Cancer Hub site plans in Belmont. Members of the public in the gallery also noticed long-serving Lib Dem councillor Jayne McCoy knitting during proceedings.
When approached for comment, a spokesperson for Sutton Liberal Democrats said: “Part of being a Liberal Democrat councillor means listening to residents all year round. We pride ourselves in going door to door and keeping in touch with local people and every Lib Dem councillor signs a compact committing to this.
“We have tried to support Patrick to make it work consistently for four years. It is with deep regret that he feels unable to fulfil all his duties under the compact and so he will not be a Liberal Democrat candidate this time.”
