Wolverhampton councillor quits 'backward' Labour for the Tories
A Wolverhampton Labour councillor has quit her party and joined the Tories, saying the "backward ideas" of Jeremy Corbyn had driven her decision.
Bilston East councillor Payal Bedi-Chadha was formally admitted to the Conservative Party at a meeting last night, taking the number of Tories on Wolverhampton Council to 11.
By crossing the floor she became the first Labour councillor to switch to the Tories since Zahid Shah in 2014.
Ms Bedi-Chadha, who is a lawyer, said the shambolic state of the Labour Party under Mr Corbyn had prompted her decision, which was also influenced by "dictators" on a local level.
Labour has hit back, saying Ms Bedi-Chadha was about to be deselected by her ward over her "poor performance" as a councillor.
Explaining her decision, Ms Bedi-Chadha said she no longer agreed with Labour policies, citing "detrimental and backward ideas" put forward by Mr Corbyn in his conference speech.
"He wants a four-day week – which would slash the wages of people on low incomes. He wants to ban private schools and expropriate their property. Even though it would cost taxpayer several billion pounds to educate the kids.
