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Camden New Journal - by RICHARD OSLEY
Published: 13 September 2007

Former Lib Dem Havard Hughes goes into battle with the Conservatives alongside Councillor Chris Philp

Shock as top Lib Dem joins Conservatives‘Inspiring’

Tory policies behind defection, says man snubbed over leader role

A LEADING Liberal Democrat has defected to the Conservatives, claiming his new party is better placed to crack down on crime and produce realistic environment policies.
Havard Hughes has quit his role as secretary of Camden’s Lib Dems to sign up with the Tories and went straight into battle by canvassing for support in Finchley Road on Saturday afternoon alongside Chris Philp, the Conservative’s prospective parliamentary candidate for the new Hampstead and Kilburn constituency.
“I believe in defending the rights of the individual and have come to realise that Camden’s Conservatives is my natural home,” said Mr Hughes, who lives in Kilburn. “The modern Conservative party inspires me because it addresses issues like the environment in a practical, technological and economically responsible way.
“The Conservatives are genuinely committed to defending civil liberties and fighting for radical improvement in public services.
“They are alone in being prepared to stand up to New Labour bureaucracy and European bureaucracy alike.”
He added that he did not know whether or not he would stand for the Conservatives at local elections in the future.
Conservative organisers claimed that the Lib Dems were “seething with rage” over the defection.
The pair used their table-top stall on Saturday to highlight crime figures – revealed in the New Journal last week – that show schoolchildren have become mugging targets in the area.
Mr Hughes said: “As someone who was recently mugged myself (in Kilburn), I can see how silly it is that Finchley Road doesn’t have any CCTV cameras to catch muggings, but has cameras to ticket motorists. The Conservatives have much clearer policies on how they will deal with crime.”
Mr Hughes was a Lib Dem councillor for eight years in neighbouring Brent until 2006. More recently, he has been prominent in campaigns in Camden, working as the party’s secretary on the Camden side of the borough boundary.
While the Lib Dems and the Conservatives supposedly have friendly relations at the Town Hall owing to a power-sharing pact, there is no love lost on the election campaign trail.
Mr Philp is hoping to be the first Tory to win in Hampstead since 1987 at the next general election, but to do so he must not only beat Labour, but also see off the challenge of the Lib Dems, who have excelled in local polls in recent years.
Mr Philp said: “This shows that we now have support across a broad spectrum. People turn to us because we have coherent policies on crime, on education and the environment.”
The Lib Dems are playing the defection down as sour grapes with reports that Mr Hughes was twice defeated in internal ballots when pushing for promotion.
Lib Dem leader Councillor Keith Moffitt said: “He is an able guy, but it is disappointing that he felt he could not be part of a team that he wasn’t leading.
“He went for the position of prospective parliamentary candidate for Holborn and St Pancras but didn’t get very far. He also stood for election as the chairman of the Camden Lib Dems and was resoundly beaten.”

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