Council's Labour group leader joins Conservatives

The leader of the Labour group on East Riding of Yorkshire Council has defected to the Conservatives.

Steve Gallant, currently a councillor in the South West Holderness ward, said his decision followed a meeting where he claimed he was told by the regional Labour Party he would not be standing as their candidate in the local elections next May.

"I thought it made sense for me to continue to represent the people in my area and I'll do that in a party that welcomes me as opposed to one that wants to block me," he said.

The Labour Party said it did not comment on individual cases, but the BBC understands it will not put forward Gallant as a candidate in May's elections.

Gallant said: "I want to continue to represent my residents in South West Holderness.

"As soon as I let the East Riding of Yorkshire Council leader, Anne Handley, know that I wasn't going to be standing next year [for Labour], she said, well, you could stand for us."

He said he left the Labour Party last Thursday and joined the Conservatives on Monday.

Asked why he chose the Conservative Party, Gallant told the BBC: "Most of what we do at East Riding of Yorkshire Council is not party political.

"I have a very good working relationship with the council leader and I'm chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, which is the most senior committee in the council."

He added that the Conservative MP for Beverley and Holderness, Graham Stuart, had also welcomed his defection.

"Graham's welcomed me because we've worked together on many campaigns over the last few years, whether it be the telegraph poles, stopping the nuclear dump that was proposed for Patrington and now we're working on the mobile phone signal problems."

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