Two Labour councillors have been suspended from the party.

Cllrs Satinder Shokar and Stephen Hubbard have been suspended following reports of a fight at a Christmas party.

For the duration of the internal investigation, the two councillors will no longer sit with the Labour group at council meetings, instead sitting among the other independent councillors.

If found in breach of party rules they will have the Labour group whip removed permanently and be non-affiliated councillors for the remainder of the term.

Cllr Hubbard is a veteran councillor, having served in local government years before the Medway unitary authority was even created.

He was first elected as a councillor for the Frindsbury ward for the Rochester-upon-Medway City Council in 1991.

He has served as a councillor on Medway Council for a total of 18 years, most recently being re-elected in 2023 to the ward of Strood North and Frindsbury.

He became the chair of Medway Council’s planning committee when the Labour group gained a majority in May 2023.

Cllr Shokar is the vice chair on the Health and Adult Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

He was first elected in last year’s local elections to the Strood West ward.

It was believed Cllr Shokar had been suspended for contacting the three Medway MPs last week urging them to support the SNP’s motion for a ceasefire in Gaza.

In his email, Cllr Shokar contacted Kelly Tolhurst, Rehman Chishti, and Tracey Crouch, as well as copying in all Medway councillors, asking them to support the SNP’s motion, not the Labour amendment, calling it “the only motion which is clear and unambiguous in calling for an immediate ceasefire”.

However, sources confirm this is not the reason for the suspension.

It is instead rumoured to be related to a disagreement between the two Labour councillors.

Both councillors were contacted for comment but neither have responded.