Conservative Party candidate switches parties

No, it’s not Ealing this time. But rather the 2005 Conservative Parliamentary candidate for Tottenham is backing UKIP in the Sedgefield by-election.

The story particularly caught my eye because I slightly know the person – William Macdougall – from when he was a Conservative councillor in Haringey (yes, they used to have some!) up until 2002. We mainly had some dealings over the redrawing of ward boundaries, as the Lib Dems, Tories and Greens got together to put in a joint proposal.

In addition to having held senior posts locally and stood for election at both local and Westminster level, he has also given significant sums to the Conservatives in Haringey over the years (there’s over £11,000 of donations listed on the Electoral Commission’s website). The electoral impact on the Tories may well turn out to be greater in Haringey than in Sedgefield as a result.