Lib Dems seek court order to evict former member with incurable cancer

The Liberal Democrats will ask a county court judge on Wednesday to evict a 71-year-old founding member from her home so that it can be sold to pay the party's legal bill. Jo Hayes, a barrister who served on the party's federal board and as regional chair for the East of England, has been diagnosed with multiple myeloma, an incurable cancer of the blood plasma cells.

The dispute began when Hayes was expelled in 2022, shortly before she was due to stand in the election for the party's federal presidency, following a complaint by the then incumbent president, Lord Mark Pack, who was subsequently reelected. The stated reason was bullying a staff member; her supporters have linked the expulsion to her questioning of the party's policies on equalities legislation relating to trans rights. She failed to get the expulsion overturned in the high court, and the party is now pursuing its costs. "The party thought I was rich so were surprised that I did not just have the money, which is why they put a charge on my house," Hayes told The Independent. "They should have known that I wasn't wealthy given the amount of pro bono work I did for them." She fears no landlord will take her: "I can't think of a landlord who'd particularly want me as a tenant, since I've got all these health problems, and I don't terribly want to fall over and break something because it won't heal."

The application arrives amid a string of legal losses. The party admitted it breached the human rights of David Campanale, a former BBC journalist deselected by the Sutton and Cheam constituency party for being a Christian ahead of the 2024 election; a judge is set to consider his damages in January. It lost in court against Natale Bird, a domestic abuse survivor barred from standing for Wakefield over her gender-critical views, and paid her £14,000. It was forced to readmit the group Liberal Voice for Women to its conference, and is being sued for discrimination by Avril Coelho, a disability activist and former councillor who was expelled. Hayes will argue the party is pursuing her because it now faces bills for damages against others, and will complain that it chose some of the most expensive lawyers available.

Hayes maintains that a liberal party should be able to contain both trans activists and those with gender-critical views. "The problem is that it is not a liberal party any more," she said, accusing Sir Ed Davey of weak leadership and describing the party as run by a clique. A spokesperson declined to comment, citing the ongoing legal case.

A party that admitted breaching the human rights of a candidate it deselected for being a Christian will ask a judge on Wednesday for permission to sell a former member's home.