North Evington Councillor Rashmikant Joshi has announced he is joining the Conservative Party in Leicester.
This follows both Cllr Rae Bhatia and Cllr Westley leaving the Labour party and joining the Conservatives last week.
On leaving the Labour Party Cllr Joshi said "Leicester Labour led by Sir Peter Soulsby is letting our city down, the City Mayor has too much power and its current holder is not using that power appropriately.”
“Labour in Leicester continuously blocks support from reaching those who need it within our communities and local councillors such as myself cannot do anything about it."
As a Councillor of 18 years who has served as the city’s Lord Mayor, Cllr Joshi believes “power in Leicester should be democratic and at the moment the Conservatives are the only party who can bring democracy back to our city.”
“The Conservative manifesto for Leicester is an excellent example of how we can put local people first, we can divert funds from the city centre to local communities and we can bring jobs back to Leicester.”
“I believe the Conservatives have the best programme for Leicester and I am proud to be a member of this local party.”
“It’s time for change in Leicester, lets's scrap the City Mayor and get on with the priorities of local people.”
The Chair of the Conservatives in Leicester, Richard Tutt said “Cllr Joshi has been a fantastic independent thinking councillor for North Evington.”
We said we’d allow Labour Councillor to join us on a case-by-case basis and Rashmi is not just a pragmatic politician but he is also a hard worker and a fantastic campaigner, I am proud to have him on board.”
Councillor Joshi will join Councillor Bajaj of the Evington ward, Cllr Modhwadia of the North Evington ward and Cllrs Rae Bhatia and Westley of the Beaumont Leys ward ahead of the local elections on 4 May.
