A LIFELONG supporter of the labour Party has blasted the Government he once worked for and has defected to the Conservative Party.

Chris Perry is so disillusioned with the party that he has decided to lend his support to the conservatives.

Mr Perry, who was a Labour councillor on Liverpool City Council and stood for Parliament in Winchester in 1970 as a Labour candidate, has applied to join the Tories.

He said his decision was prompted by David Cameron's recent speech in Bournemouth, which he said "galvanised" and "remotivated" him.

Mr Perry, of Old Kennels Lane, Winchester, said: "When someone changes party, there is always a certain feeling on treachery. I have enjoyed the many friendships I have had with Labour members in the past and wish them all the best.

"But politics is about changing your views to meet changing circumstances, as the late Bertrand Russell once said to me in a letter about nuclear weapons.

"It will be a great relief escaping from support for the Labour Party, because I need to see the future clearly and not have that view blocked by ideas from the past."

He added: "October 8 was the day in 1964 that Labour and Harold Wilson came to power after 13 years of Tory rule and I was one of those shouting for joy.

"October 8, 2006, was the day I burned my bridges with Labour, because it has succeeded in staying in power only by betraying everything we stood for in 1964."

Mr Perry sent a letter to Mr Cameron after his Bournemouth speech and wrote: "Your espousal of the cause of the NHS was good and you have nothing to lose by standing firm on the minimum wage.

"To dispel the idea the Tories are all for the rich you would touch a chord with voters if you attacked the debt machine and the arrogance of the banks. And one other thing: you have mentioned the need to reform the police and you will hear a big cheer go up on that one."