He is very welcome. It is a courageous decision to change political allegiance as an elected representative. It can be made easier by receiving a warm welcome from new colleagues.
Cllr Gibbon cited an enthusiasm for David Cameron's leadership and values. This is further evidence of the Conservative Leader's success in building a broad base of support amongst the electorate. Conservatives are now widely seen as a credible alternative Government. This is borne out by another surge in opinion polls since the poorly received Budget, which endorsed Gordon Brown's measure to raise taxes for those on lowest incomes.
But Cllr Gibbon also raised concerns about the LibDems and their leadership, both local and national. There is no doubt Nick Clegg has a steep learning curve to climb. His handling of the EU referendum was confused, the Saudi arms deal naive, and revelations about his personal life embarassing. Now we learn he may have been elected through voting irregularities.
Locally the LibDems have lost further momentum. Only three years ago they held half the Parliamentary seats in Shropshire, controlled one of the District Councils and ran the County Council in coalition with Labour. Now they have lost all of these, and with this latest defection of a sitting councillor look set to fall back further. No doubt there will be plenty of huff and puff in the local press, but where it counts in the ballot box I suspect this decline in momentum in Shropshire will be reflected across the country in the local elections on 1st May.
David Gibbon will not be the last Lib Dem to appreciate that if you want a real change of direction in Britain only David Cameron's Conservatives can deliver it.
