With just five weeks until the council elections, controversial Tory councillor Brian Coleman has stunned colleagues by announcing that he is quitting the Conservatives and joining the Labour Party.
Speaking to reporters, Coleman claimed that it was the recent Channel 4 programme Dispatches which was the catalyst for his unexpected change. Explaining his decision, he said: “Last year, I was paid allowances of just £2,500 a week, but after watching Dispatches I realised that if a pathological liar like Stephen Byers can get paid twice that amount for just a day’s work, then I was batting for the wrong team. Byers said that he was a cab for hire and clearly that was an irresistible proposition for me.”
It has been an open secret that Coleman fell out of favour with former council leader Mike Freer over the proposed Brent Cross redevelopment plans, and the election of Lynne Hillan as Freer’s successor over Coleman’s protégé Fiona Bulmer, only ostracised him further from the heart of the decision making clique. However, Coleman denied that this was the cause of his defection. “This has absolutely nothing to do with political principles,” he told the shocked media pack. “This is all about money. When it comes to sticking one’s snout in the trough, the Conservatives are frankly rank amateurs when compared to my new Labour friends.”
Coleman, who currently represents the ultra safe Conservative ward of Totteridge, is expected to announce later today that he will contest the equally safe Labour seat of Burnt Oak at the forthcoming elections on 6th May.
2 comments:
I am really shocked and stunned reading your post. I just cannot believe that Brian Coleman would put political advancement and money before principle. This really can't be true, can it?
Perhaps it was all that talk of taxis for hire that swung it.
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