Conservative Councillor in North Shropshire defects to Reclaim Party ahead of by-election

Ahead of the parliamentary by-election being held in North Shropshire next Thursday (December 16), a local Conservative councilor in the constituency has defected to the Reclaim Party.

The Councillor for South Ward in Market Drayton, Cllr Anthony Allen, has not only endorsed the Reclaim Party candidate for the by-election, but he is now believed to become the Reclaim Party’s first elected official.

The Reclaim Party is led by the actor, Laurence Fox.  It is known for its ‘anti woke’ stance and its criticism of government lockdown policies.

Cllr Allen who is a local taxi driver in the constituency said, “The Conservatives simply aren’t conservative any more.  They’ve gone soft on illegal immigration, they’ve lost control of taxation, and are obsessed with crippling green taxes nobody wants”.

Cllr Allen’s comments follow those made by Donald Trump in an interview with Nigel Farage on GB News last week, in which he said Boris Johnson had ‘got more liberal’.

Welcoming his new party’s recruit, Laurence Fox said, “We have a crisis of freedom of speech in Britain. It’s imperative that politicians like Anthony are free to speak their minds, rather than being constrained by a party that cares more for fashionable, metropolitan opinions rather than the sincerely held views of their membership”.

Despite their success in the Bexley by-election last week, the Conservatives are expected to face a tougher challenge to retain their North Shropshire seat, from both the Liberal Democrats who are aiming to mirror their success from earlier in the year in Chesham and Amersham, and from Labour who came second in North Shropshire in the 2019 General Election.