Labour Councillor Thomas Usher has been deselected by his local party, after a close contest in Liscard, Wallasey.

Cllr Usher was leading after the first round of voting, but lost 30-21 to Dave Brennan, who becomes Labour’s candidate for the ward in May.

Aged 26, Cllr Usher is the youngest councillor in Wirral and the cabinet member for children and families. He is at the forefront of plans to tackle spiralling childcare costs, by providing council-run placements.

Reacting to the vote, Cllr Usher said: “It was a legitimate process which any Labour branch can choose to go through, obviously I’ve really enjoyed my time as a councillor in Liscard and feel I did the role justice. I wish the new candidate Dave Brennan the best of luck.

“I would have loved to continue, but it is in the gift of the party to do as it did. I still feel I have plenty to offer local politics. Like any political party there are things we can always try to do better and I want to be a part of that.”

Asked whether he will stand again in a different ward, Cllr Usher said: “I have no plans to leave Labour or leave politics. I haven’t made any decision on what I will do next. I want to do what I can for the local Labour Party.

Discussing the vote to deselect Cllr Usher, Edwina Doyle, chair of the Liscard branch of the Labour Party, said: “Dave (Brennan) made an excellent speech, that’s what local politics is all about. Tom gave a reasonable speech. He is a bit younger and less experienced.”

Asked if she is disappointed to see the council’s youngest member go, Ms Doyle said: “Yes, of course I am. I have spoken to Tom, he conceded honourably. He’s a perfectly nice young man.”

Ms Doyle rejected the idea that the vote was part of a factional dispute within the party, but Independent Cllr Moira McLaughlin said Cllr Usher was “booted out by the hard-left”.

Cllr McLaughlin quit the Labour Party after 40 years of membership last year, saying a hard-left clique had taken over Wirral’s four constituency parties.

“When I resigned last year I made a speech and Tom (Usher) was the first one to stand up and applaud, that made him a target.

“Tom had a promising career, but he’s been chopped off at the knees. It’s a shocking situation. Cllr Anita Leech, [deputy leader of Wirral Council] is up for deselection, she’s got problems.”

Cllr McLaughlin said: “The Wirral West Labour Party is a large and very strong force on the left and the Wallasey Labour Party has been dominated by the hard left for the last 30-odd years.

“Over 50 people at a branch selection meeting is phenomenal. But in the country, the hard-left are seen as inward looking and they are very unpopular.”