Two Conservative Councillors join the Liberal Democrats in Winchester

By The Voice | Wed 22nd January 2014 - 12:54 pm

Good news from Winchester Liberal Democrats:

Councillors Jamie Scott and Derek Green, both representing St Luke ward on Winchester City Council, resigned from the Conservatives after deciding they could do a better job for their residents as part of the strong local Liberal Democrat team.

Winchester’s prospective Liberal Democrat MP, Jackie Porter said “Jamie and Derek are fantastic additions to the Liberal Democrat team. They both live in the heart of their community. Like me, they want to improve the lives of local people by supporting local jobs and giving everyone a fair chance in life.”

This means that the Conservatives have lost their overall majority control of Winchester City Council, with Liberal Democrats and Conservatives holding 27 seats each. 1 Independent and 2 Labour councillors hold the balance of power.

The Winchester Liberal Democrat Group leader Cllr Kelsie Learney said:

The Conservatives have shown themselves increasingly out of touch with ordinary people in Winchester. I am not surprised that Councillors such as Jamie and Derek, who really care about their communities, are looking for things to change.

4 Comments

Peter Chegwyn 22nd Jan '14 - 2:03pm

This is excellent news and particularly welcome in this week of all weeks!
John 22nd Jan '14 - 5:21pm

What will be interesting is to see who Labour side with. They wouldn’t `get into bed with the tories` would they?
tonyhill 22nd Jan '14 - 6:21pm

It’s Kelsie Learney. I’m not very keen on defections, but given that one of our councillors for the same ward defected to the Tories there is an element of poetic justice. There is no chance of Labour siding with us.
Max Wilkinson 22nd Jan '14 - 7:33pm

On Gloucestershire County Council Labour aren’t ‘in bed’ with the Tories, but they’re engaging in some pretty heavy petting.