A former Conservative councillor has announced he is to stand as an independent in a forthcoming by-election after admitting his party had “lost all contact with reality”.
Chris Horne announced he will stand as an Independent in the upcoming Broxburn, Uphall and Winchburgh ward by-election following the death of Labour councillor Ann Davidson, just days before Rishi Sunak was made PM.
And Mr Horne said he felt he had no choice but to leave the Conservative party, saying despite Boris Johnson pulling out of the race to be PM, the mere talk of return following the resignation of Liz Truss was “unbelievable”.
Announcing his candidacy as an Independent, and his exit from the Conservative party, he said: “It was hard to stand under the Conservative banner in May after the antics at Westminster, but the latest shambles has left me with no choice but to leave my former party.
“To even consider Boris as a leadership contender is unbelievable.
“The party appear to have lost all contact with the realities of the person in the street, including me.”
Mr Horne stood as a Conservative candidate for Linlithgow to replace the retiring Lord Provost Tom Kerr in the May council election.
He said he is returning to where “he has worked hard for the people and businesses in the area over the last five years - Broxburn, Uphall and Winchburgh.”
He added: “I am passionate about the communities in this ward, and now West Lothian is being failed by a lack of ideas and creativity from party politics in what are undoubtedly tough times financially. The ward I have represented for five years already has so many exciting developments, not least the expansion of Winchburgh, housing at Bangour and changing Main Street in Uphall and Broxburn.
“The Council must do better, and not have politicians hide behind arguments about the fault of Westminster or Holyrood. My vision is to be unconstrained by party lines, instead to be able to fight clearly and passionately for the people of this ward.”
Mr Horne said : “Like so many other parts of this ward, Winchburgh has some amazing community champions and volunteers. It is important they are backed up by great representatives at Council and Scottish Government to deliver a station and the facilities the village deserves. We must realise the potential of the vision for the village, whilst protecting what is so important about its identity built on the past generations, especially around farming and shale mining.
Chris Horne is the second former councillor in the poll. Tony Boyle was the unanimous choice of local Labour Party members in the ward and was previously a councillor in the area from 2012 to 2017.
Nominations will close October 28. The election will take place on Thursday, December 1.
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