West End councillor Paul Fisher quits Labour to join Tories
Paul Fisher blasts Sadiq Khan as 'arrogant' as he quits party he joined aged 15
Friday, 4th April — By Tom Foot
Tories smiling again: Paul Swaddle, Tim Barnes and Paul Fisher (centre) after the defection
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A SENIOR Labour councillor swept into power in the historic Labour victory of 2022 has dramatically defected to the Tories and launched a furious attack on the “arrogant” Mayor of London.
Paul Fisher, who’s been in the Labour Party since he was 15, quit the party last night, Thursday, joining the Conservative ranks on Westminster City Council.
The West End ward councillor blasted the mayor Sir Sadiq Khan over his Oxford Street pedestrianisation “vanity project” and for failing to keep crime under control.
The switch leaves the Labour administration with a slender majority of two with just over a year to go until the next council elections.
Cllr Fisher, 35, told Extra: “At national level we are going about protecting growth in the country badly, I am particularly concerned about the tax rises. But also we have an individual with whom I have long dis-agreed, and that’s the Mayor of London.
“He has prioritised his own vanity projects at the expense of things he should have focused on, in particular crime.
“He has ignored his own Labour group on Westminster Council and ploughed on with the plans for pedestrianisation in a way that is symptomatic of a mayoralty that has been about one man.”
The mayor stunned Westminster Labour when he announced that he was taking control of a divisive scheme to pedestrianise Oxford Street a few days before a West End ward by- election that was duly won by the Tory Tim Barnes.
Labour had been working on its own Oxford Street plans for almost two years.
Cllr Fisher said: “The question we have to ask ourselves is does the Labour Party care about Westminster? The answer is no it doesn’t. Labour at national and London level believes 2022 may have been a blip.
“That is why Sadiq acted so arrogantly and publicly with his attacks on the party in Westminster. He does not care that Labour may lose.”
Paul Fisher, left, winning West End ward for Labour in 2022
Cllr Fisher, a barrister, comes from a staunch Labour family and grew up in its traditional heartland of south Wales. His grandfather was in the National Union of Mineworkers.
He told Extra he had joined the party aged 15 in a show of support for Tony Blair and New Labour over the invasion of Iraq.
He said: “I joined at a time when I was heavily influenced by a decision by Labour to act on Saddam. I was one of the rare people who joined in light of Iraq. Perhaps I should have known then that I wasn’t in tune with most Labour Party members.”
Asked he thought there was much difference between Sir Keir Starmer’s government and the Conservatives in opposition, he said: “There are clear differences between the parties, in relation to the default setting.
“The default setting of the Labour Party is to spend more. We saw that from 2001 onwards. We are seeing that again now.
“We said we wouldn’t tax working people. But we are now seeing a tax on jobs. And we are actually borrowing more. In December alone we spent £8billion. That is unacceptable, it’s only getting worse.”
In a statement put out by the party, he added: “I am joining the Conservative party for three reasons: stagnation, Sadiq and security.
“Under a Labour government our country is being pushed into economic stagnation with a tax on jobs stifling economic growth.”
Cllr Fisher was Labour’s lead member for cumulative impact and vice-chair of planning.
The Fisher defection switch leaves Labour teetering on a knife-edge with a majority of just two councillors, holding 28 seats to the Conservatives’ 26.
Extra understands senior Labour figures, including Cities of London and Westminster MP Rachel Blake, spent yesterday afternoon desperately trying to change Cllr Fisher’s mind.
After a frantic few hours, the defection was rubber- stamped at a Conservative group meeting around 6pm, following a vote by existing Conservative councillors. The council’s chief executive had just been informed as the Extra went to press.
Cllr Paul Swaddle, leader of the Conservative group, said: “Cllr Fisher has won the respect of Conservative councillors across the usual party divides and has shown himself to be an intelligent, diligent and highly capable councillor.
“We are looking forward to the local elections next year as our opportunity to retake control of the council and address those legitimate concerns.”
Tim Barnes, the Tory West End ward councillor, said: “We will make a strong team here in the West End to support residents now and in the future.”
Labour leader Adam Hug told Extra: “We are deeply disappointed to hear of Paul’s decision, despite being elected less than three years ago by Labour voters in the West End.
“As a council we are committed to tak- ing action to address crime and anti-social behaviour through investing in CCTV, new city inspectors, and other measures after the Tories withdrew from the scene on these issues.
“We will continue to stand up for local residents while growing the local economy and improving the performance of our services.”
