More Conservative councillors defect to UKIP

Cllr Stephen West, of Tadley Central Ward in Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, has defected from the Conservatives to UKIP. He is to be the UKIP candidate for Police and Crime Commissioner for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. The Conservative candidate is Michael Mates, although he is under pressure to stand down.

Cllr West says:

The Conservative Party has retreated from the centre ground of UK politics as David Cameron has failed to deal with the issues of the Economy and while stating that "We are all in it together" is happy to cut the top rate of tax for the richest people in the country while the rest of us here in Tadley struggle to make ends meet.

What's all that about? Are UKIP favouring restoration of the 50p top rate envy tax? Do UKIP really think that would generate more tax revenue, let alone help economic growth? Are UKIP positioning themselves somewhere to the Left of the Lib Dems who, after all, went along with the cut to 45p?

Labour councillor quits saying Ed Miliband is a "wet flannel"

Cllr Carl Clark, who represents the Thetford - Abbey Ward on Breckland Council, has resigned from the Labour Party and will sit as an independent.

He says:

“I have never really been Labour. They asked me a week before the election if I wanted to go with Labour. I was not even a member before. I’m just very against the EU because it’s brought this country down.”

A Pastoral Worker at the Bishops Church of England School in Thetford, Cllr Clark said he opposed "Labour’s abortion policy and selection policy for county council election candidates".

He also criticised Ed Miliband:

"I have never seen a poorer leader. He is like a wet flannel. I can’t believe he is leading the Labour Party. I met him and he could not even look you in the eyes. He looked at the floor and talked about what he was briefed on.”

Labour win councillor defections from Lib Dems and Greens

Cllr Paula Black, of the Totnes Rural electoral division of Devon County Council, has defected from the Green Party to the Labour Party.

She says:

"Some people in the Green party have quite extreme views – we cannot go and live in mud huts."

The Green Party are not a respectable, fluffy political party. They are an extreme left wing party who wish to overthrow capitalism. Yet the socialist alternative offers terrible environmental consequences - as Roger Scruton recently reminded us in his book Green Philosophy. So I welcome Cllr Black's defection as progress albeit modest.

Over in Stevenage the Labour Party also has a new recruit. Cllr John Mead has defected to them from the Liberal Democrats. He says the Lib Dems are "untrustworthy."

Conservative councillor defects to UKIP over "bullies" and "smears"

Cllr Ben Walker, who represents Bradley Stoke North Ward on South Gloucester District Council, has resigned from the Conservative Party and defected to UKIP.

Cllr Walker says:

"I have been internally smeared, but will not be bullied..."

 "Internal individuals have made it their business to remove me from the party in fear of their positions, so I have decided to give them what they want; for now.

While he mentions his opposition to the European Union and "ill targeted" spending cuts there has obviously been some sort of personal feud going on which is the real spur to his defection.

An article which appeared recently in the Bristol Evening Post reported that Cllr Walker's firm, Oppo Complete Building Services Ltd, went bust after a client failed to pay £60,000 they were owed. It said Cllr Walker is "currently paying off thousands of pounds of outstanding income tax for his company." The details were unclear but there didn't seem to be any suggestion that Cllr Walker personally was becoming bankrupt or had broken any law.  Yet this would seem to be the background in terms of the "smears" that Cllr Walker refers to.

Conservatives remain in power in Wyre Forest as councillor defects

In this month's local elections the Conservatives lost overall control of Wyre Forest District Council. However the Conservatives remained the largest party with 20 councillors against eight each for Labour and Independent and Community Heath Concern. There are also some independents and the Conservatives are being allowed to run a minority administration helped by the defection of Cllr Rose Bishop from the Independent and Liberal Group to the Conservatives.

This group includes councillors from the Liberal Party which is distinct from the Liberal Democrats. The Liberal Party, led by former Liberal MP Michael Meadowcroft, was formed as the "continuing" Liberal Party at the time of the merger with the SDP in 1989. The departure of Cllr Bishop means they are down to, I think, 15 councillors nationally. On the other hand this is considerably more than the BNP.

The Liberal Party are Eurosceptic, favour legalising drugs and feel the coalition Government's spending cuts are "excessive."

Wiltshire councillor joins Conservatives

Cllr Peter Colmer has joined the Conservative Group on Wiltshire Council. He resigned from the Liberal Democrats last year to sit as an independent.

Wiltshire is a Conservative-run unitary authority and Cllr Colmer evidently feels the Lib Dems were failing to be a constructive opposition.

He says:

"I didn't like their Punch and Judy antics and Westminster type sledges, especially in the arena of health and adult social care - using the most vulnerable in our society as a political football. That's not what I became a councillor for. Whatever flag they come under, councillors should be doing what's best for the community and Westminster style politics should be left to Westminster."

Cllr Colmer's point applies beyond Wiltshire. I think opposition groups can get tempted into a lot of procedural point scoring. They should try to combine being robust and challenging with retaining an essential seriousness. They should look at how they can make a difference. For instance in Labour-run councils the Conservative opposition members should get out and about promoting the newly revived right to buy. Also rather than just attacking a council's budget they should sit down with the council officers to produce a costed alternative budget.

Anyway, welcome aboard Cllr Colmer. There do seem to have been more Lib Dem councillors defecting to the Conservatives than to Labour over the  last two years which is heartening and surprising.

Another Cornish Lib Dem councillor quits

Cllr Graham Walker has resigned from the Lib Dem group on Cornwall Council to become an independent.

His objections are over education policy.

The Western Morning News reports:

Mr Walker warned that a policy in favour of academies, which now educate a third of Cornish children, were leading to a "two-tier system" which lacked local accountability, and said: "How does taking money from all Cornish schools and giving more of it to the highest performing improve educational standards overall?"...

He also criticised the Government's award of £700,000 to private St Michael's faith school, to set up a free school in Camborne, when "other schools in the area have had their capital budgets cut by 60 per cent or more and have 200-plus spare places".

Lib Dem councillor defects to Greens

Cllr Andy Hodgson, who was the Deputy Leader of the Lib Dem group on Solihull Council has defected to join the Green Party - and has made various left wing pronouncements about fighting the cuts, fighting privatisation, and so on.

On West Sussex County Council the Green Party have another recruit - Cllr James Doyle has joined them. He was an independent after having left the Lib Dems last year.

Tim has made the point about the threat to Labour and the Lib Dems that could be posed by the Green Party - just as UKIP represents a challenge for the Conservatives.

Lib Dem MP Lorely Burt had a tiny majority over the Conservatives at the last election in the Solihull constituency, and is already being hit by boundary changes. If a chunk of her supporters break  off to join the Green Party it won't help her chances.

Cllr Ralph Baldwin: Why I am joining the Conservative Party

Cllr Ralph Baldwin of Barking and Dagenham Council announces his decision to join the Conservative Party

Over the past months I have been preparing myself for a massive change. Ironically it has been a much smoother process than anticipated. People are often questioning their parties, more often than not because they care very much about the issues and policies their Leaders are implementing. It’s a sign of healthy vibrancy and introspection, of intelligence and debate, of freedom over control. When you are sitting in the Council Chamber of Barking and Dagenham, one thing you quickly realise is the silence and even the local paper mentions the strange “lack of discussion” in meetings.

It is no longer about “loyalty”, it is about nothing short of totalitarian control. The strangest aspect was the lack of discussion in the Labour Group meetings where people were too afraid to speak out. The fear was palpable.

Watching Question Time I see the same expressions and hear the same voices, the common denominator in all of them is the lack of any form of service to the public and lack of concern about the circumstances or policy being discussed. The supercilious attitude of people who have nothing to do with any kind of political tradition or ethos beyond their own advancement regardless of the consequences or damage used to be quite shocking to me.

Independent councillor joins Conservatives

Welcome aboard to Cllr Wayne Whittle, who was elected as an Independent in 2009, but has decided to join the Conservative Group on the Isle of Wight.
 
This means there are now 25 Conservative councillors with nine Independents, four Lib Dems, one Labour councillor and one other.

In a letter to residents in Ryde North East Ward he says:

This decision has been taken following very careful consideration over several months. Whilst I have not agreed with all the decisions made by the Conservatives in recent times, I have concluded that in joining them I can be a challenging (but constructive) team member; working within the Conservative values and principles which they all share. I feel that my personal values and principles align with these.