Local Conservatives welcome the defection of LibDem candidate to the Conservatives 25/01/06

Liberal Democrat Parliamentary candidate Adrian Graves has defected to the Conservatives after David Cameron called on Lib Dems to change allegiance "and help us build a modern progressive mainstream opposition to Labour".

Mr Graves, a 57 year old public relations consultant, who contested Suffolk West for the Liberal Democrats in the 1997 and 2005 general election contests, said his decision was taken before Christmas in response to Mr Cameron's modernising of the Conservatives, and not as a result of the recent "catastrophe" to overwhelm the Liberal Democrats following the resignation of Charles Kennedy.

He said: "I decided to move on before the latest round of catastrophe. I have no regrets."

Mr Graves went on: "The arrival of David Cameron at the helm of the Conservative Party has precipitated a fundamental shift in both the direction and political atmosphere within the Party. As a result, politics is suddenly dynamic and interesting again. Importantly, this new phenomenon now offers - arguably for the first time since 1997 - the only potentially achievable opportunity for 'regime change' at the next general election.

"That real possibility would gather even more credence if the joined-up forces of modern compassionate Conservatism and genuine liberal democracy were to combine to ensure the departure of our current presidential, autocratic and authoritarian government that has disappointed on so many fronts."

He added: "Most people in Britain have already tired of the Blair presidency: authoritarianism, state interference, quasi-military intrusion, the erosion of civil liberty and a burgeoning, self-perpetuating bureaucracy which now embraces one in six of the population. The thinking politicians of the centre - including those still within the Liberal Democrats - need now to consider how best to advance the causes they believe in: social justice, environmental concern and the improvement of public services. David Cameron's commitment to these goals is clear. Their realisation depends on a clean, clinical removal of Labour and all that goes with it at the next election."

Welcoming the move, Justin Hinchcliffe of Haringey Conservatives, said: "The Conservative Party is changing. We are leading the way on major challenges such as climate change and global poverty. We are committed to decentralisation and defending civil liberties. There is now a new home for Haringey's Liberal Democrat voters and those who want to see a change of Government at the next election."

ENDS.