Haringey Labour shocked and rocked by defection of high flyer to Tottenham Conservatives 04/06/07

Labour in Haringey suffered a setback this week after a former local councillor and Chief Whip announced that he was joining Tottenham Conservatives.

Richard Reynolds, seen by many as a 'high flyer', was a respected councillor for Seven Sisters Ward for eight years and Labour Chief Whip for four. Richard gave three reasons for switching parties - the "appalling" running of Haringey Council by his former colleagues, mismanagement at the Seven Sisters Bridge project and David Cameron's modern, compassionate and liberal policies.

Commenting on the shock move, which has rocked the Tottenham Labour Party, Richard said: "Labour, both locally and nationally, have failed ordinary people. They are the party of the past and David Cameron's Conservatives are the party of the future. Locally, the management of Haringey council is appalling. When I chaired the Bridge NDC, I wanted the £50m spent on regenerating Seven Sisters. Now the money is being frittered away left, right and centre with little to show for it. The Community isn't involved with decision-making - it's just a bunch of Labour cronies who behave in a suspicious and secretive manner. It's time for a change in Haringey and I'm looking forward to being part of it".

When asked why he didn't defect to the Lib Dems, who are the official opposition to Labour on Haringey, Richard said that they were a terrible opposition to Labour. "In Tottenham, it's the Conservatives who provide the effective opposition."

Welcoming Richard into the Party, Justin Hinchcliffe, Chairman of Tottenham Conservatives, said: "I am delighted that somebody of Richard's calibre has joined us. We're finding more and more people who are disillusioned with Brown's Labour and Ming Campbell's Lib Dems are switching to David Cameron's message of change, optimism and hope".

Reynolds follows Richard Balfe, a former London Labour MEP, who is the Conservative Association's current President and Alan Brown, a Tottenham MP, who switched from Labour to the Conservatives in 1959. Richard, originally of Jamaican decent, lives with his wife and children in Tottenham.

ENDS.