Two councillors move to Reform from Conservatives

Marcus Lapsa and Jackie Gardiner have joined Reform UK

Two Coventry city councillors have defected from the Conservative party and joined Reform UK.

Marcus Lapsa and Jackie Gardiner said the Tory party had changed and they felt "let down by so many broken promises".

Westwood councillor Lapsa and Sherbourne councillor Gardiner said they believed Nigel Farage's party had the answers to the biggest problems facing the country.

Conservative group leader Gary Ridley said their defection was a "huge betrayal of people in Sherbourne and Westood who voted to have Conservative representation".

Addressing them in an interview with BBC Radio Coventry and Warwickshire, he said: "You should stand in a by-election, resign your seat and stand under your new banner and give the people of those wards a say over who they're represented by.

"They're being denied their vote."

Lapsa, who has represented Westwood since 2008, said he had joined Reform "because both Labour and the Conservatives have failed our country on a massive scale".

"Councils across the country are no longer able to deliver for local residents," he added, citing issues with bin collections and potholes.

Gardiner, who has represented Sherbourne since 2022, said she had joined the party "because of their determination to uphold British culture, identity, and values".