Cllr Murad Gassanly, left, pictured on the campaign trail in 2014 with Alan Johnson and fellow Churchill ward councillors Jason Williams and Shamim Talukder

MURAD Gassanly, the outspoken councillor for Churchill ward who quit Labour last year, has crossed the floor to the Conservatives.

Cllr Gassanly, who could not reconcile himself with the Jeremy Corbyn revolution, had his application endorsed at a meeting of the Westminster Conservative group on July 5.

In a statement he said: “I have been on a political journey over the last few years and have come to the conclusion that it is only the Conservatives who want to support people and help them no matter what their background.”

In 2014 Gassanly was elected to the knife-edge Churchill ward with 1,187 votes – just pipping three Conservative chasers, who polled around 1,000-1,100 votes each. The seat is set to be a closely fought encounter in next May’s council elections.

The move follows talks with council leader Cllr Nickie Aiken who said she was “delighted”, adding that he “had a very bright future”.