A Labour councillor in Merseyside has been administratively suspended from the party.

It is understood that Cllr Tony Norbury, who represents Prenton on Wirral Council, has been suspended for voting in favour of three motions related to Jeremy Corbyn and the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s (EHRC) damning report into antisemitism within the Labour Party.

Cllr Norbury will now sit as an independent while an investigation into his conduct takes place.

A spokesperson for the Labour Party said it cannot comment on individual cases, but added: “The Labour Party takes all complaints seriously and they are fully investigated in line with our rules and procedures and any appropriate action is taken.”

The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) understands that Cllr Norbury chaired a meeting of the Birkenhead Constituency Labour Party (CLP) at the end of last month which passed two motions pledging solidarity with Jeremy Corbyn and a third motion on free speech.

CLPs have been given guidance on conducting discussions of the EHRC report and its impact in a constructive and inclusive way that recognises its recommendations result from an investigation which the party has accepted in full.

But Birkenhead CLP’s free speech motion asked for David Evans, the general secretary of the Labour Party, to not interfere in the freedom of speech of members at CLP meetings.

The motions related to Mr Corbyn were initially put forward before his Labour membership was reinstated following controversial comments he made about antisemitism in the party.

Mr Corbyn said Jewish Labour members were right to expect the party to deal with antisemitism and added: “I regret that it took longer to deliver that change than it should.”

But in addition to this, he said: “The scale of the problem was also dramatically overstated for political reasons by our opponents inside and outside the party.”

Birkenhead CLP voted through all three motions after the former Labour leader had been allowed to return to the party.

Out of the two motions expressing solidarity with Mr Corbyn, one of them asked current Labour leader Keir Starmer to restore the Labour whip to Jeremy Corbyn, making him a Labour MP once again. Mr Starmer has not yet done this.

Speaking to the LDRS, Cllr Norbury said he was told to chair the meeting which passed the three motions at the last minute and was not aware of any new advice issued by Mr Evans.

But the Prenton councillor said he was aware of the content of all three motions and did vote in favour of them.