Lib Dem candidate defects to Labour two days before election

Just two days before the local elections, a Lib Dem candidate has defected to Labour. Jordan Cooper is the Lib Dem candidate for St Mary’s Ward in Traffprd.

Cooper released “An Open Letter to Tim Farron” through Manchester Young Labour today, which said:

This year I’ve stood as a candidate for the Liberal Democrats in the local elections. My local party in Altrincham are a committed group, passionate about the local area but ever since 2010, I’ve felt increasingly uneasy in the party.

3 years ago I joined the Liberal Democrats because I believed they embodied the principles and values that I stood for. Their policies appeared genuine and on the side of young people – who can forget their pledge to abolish tuition fees? Since entering the coalition the Liberal Democrats have abandoned what they stood for and become little more than an extension of the Tory party. They haven’t simply failed to deliver these policies – they’ve delivered the opposite and worsened the problems they pledged to solve.

You can read the whole statement here.