Councillor Colin Race, who says he has voted Labour “ever since he was
old enough”, made the shock announcement at a Bishop Auckland Town Council
meeting, in County Durham, on
Tuesday.
Coun Race said he will be joining Nigel Farage’s party before pouring
scorn on his former Labour colleagues for being part of a “cosy consensus” of
politicians.
Coun Race said: “Year-on-year it has become increasingly clear that
Labour are neglecting voters and taking us all for granted.
“The Labour Party that I once knew – the party that stuck up for the
working families, is no more. We have a cosy consensus of politicians in
Westminster who spend more time patting each other on the back, than
representing the people who pay their wages at the end of the month.
“Here in the North East we have the highest rates of unemployment in the
country, how are my kids meant to get a job when our political class support
open door mass immigration from 27 other EU member states?”
Coun Race’s defection comes four months before Labour MP Helen Goodman
fights to keep the Bishop Auckland constituency red.
UKIP’s North East MEP, Jonathan Arnott, said: “I would like to take this
opportunity to welcome the Mayor of Bishop Auckland, Coun Colin Race, to UKIP’s
peoples’ army.
“Labour party members across our region are simply realising that the
incredibly wealthy individuals who sit at the top of the Labour party don’t, and
make no attempt to, work for hard-working, law-abiding citizens across the
country.
“Only UKIP are offering a sensible, credible alternative to the Labour
party who have neglected the North East for years.”
