Here’s the text of the press release from Cheltenham Lib Dems just received by The Voice – the defection of Cllr Klara Sudbury from the Tories to Lib Dems takes Cheltenham Borough council from Lib Dem minority control (20 seats out of 40) to overall control.

County and borough councillor Klara Sudbury has today announced that she will be leaving the Conservative Party and applying to join the Liberal Democrats and the party’s groups on the county and borough councils.

Statement by county and district councillor Klara Sudbury

‘After giving it a great deal of thought I have decided to leave the Conservatives and make the positive step of joining Cheltenham Liberal Democrats. This was not an easy decision to make in some ways as I have made some good friends in the Conservatives.

However, I have been impressed by the work of the town’s Liberal Democrat MP Martin Horwood who has been a hard working and dedicated MP for the town for nearly five years. The Liberal Democrats have taken the lead on many local issues such as defending Cheltenham railway station from the threat of a Parkway station at Elmbridge Court and protecting services for the town’s most vulnerable people. I also fully support their proactive approach in fighting to save the town’s green spaces and Green Belt from inappropriate development.

Working hard locally for my constituents and for Cheltenham has always been my number one priority. In that respect nothing has changed and I look forward to continuing this work with Martin and the local Lib Dems in the days and months ahead.’

Statement by Martin Horwood MP

‘I like Klara very much and I’m delighted to have her support. She works tirelessly for her constituents, she has good green instincts and we’ve worked together on many local campaigns already, most obviously the battle to save the countryside around Cheltenham. It just shows that, in the end, standing up for local people is more important than party labels.’

Statement by county councillor Dennis Andrewartha, Liberal Democrat group deputy leader

‘We at the county Liberal Democrat group welcome Klara, a popular councillor we know to be a good representative of local people in Cheltenham. Together we will continue striving for a fairer Gloucestershire.’

Statement by borough councillor Steve Jordan, Liberal Democrat Leader of the Council

‘Klara has a well deserved reputation as a campaigner on many local issues and I am very pleased that she would like to continue those campaigns as a member of the Liberal Democrat group. I warmly welcome her application to join us. Councillors represent all their constituents of whatever political persuasion and I’m sure Klara will continue to do an excellent job for local people.’