Labour candidate defects to Lib Dems
Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Ribble Valley has defected to the Liberal Democrats.
Stephen Wilkinson, also a Labour member of Lancashire County Council, resigned from the Labour Party and his parliamentary candidacy on Monday, and was welcomed into the Liberal Democrats late last night.
The news will come as an embarrassment to the Labour leadership coming as it does on the day the general election is expected to be announced.
Mr Wilkinson said that his decision was not about self-interest, but had been taken because Labour had become “increasingly authoritarian”.
He said: “Like many former Labour voters and activists, I feel angry that Labour have become increasingly authoritarian and failed to safeguard civil liberties. They have used the threat of terror to push for house arrest and compulsory ID cards and to justify the illegal war in Iraq.
“Who could have thought that a Labour government would become a lapdog to George Bush’s right wing Republican administration?”
By contrast, he said that the Liberal Democrats come across as “honest and straightforward” and “offer hope for the future”.
Unsurprisingly, the defection was welcomed by Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy, who will be joined by Mr Wilkinson at a press conference later today.
Mr Kennedy said that the defection re-enforced his party’s claim to be the real alternative to Labour.
He added: “I warmly welcome Stephen Wilkinson and his courage in leaving his party to join the Liberal Democrats. When Labour cannot even retain the support of their own candidates, it is surely a sign of things to come.”
Mr Wilkinson will now not be standing in Ribble Valley as the Lib Dems have already put forward their candidate. It is not known who will replace him as the Labour candidate.
Ribble Valley is a safe Conservative seat, with the current MP Nigel Evans enjoying an 11,238 majority in 2001.
