The former deputy leader of Leicestershire CC's Conservative group has defected to the UK Independence Party (UKIP), vowing to contest his county seat in this May's elections.
David Sprason, stepped down as Leicestershire's deputy leader last November following interviews with the national and local press - coverage sparked by revelations he had previously used a county laptop to view a pornographic DVD.
In a letter dated 3 March, Cllr Sprason - who served as deputy to current Leicestershire leader Cllr Nicholas Rushton following the ousting of previous incumbent David Parsons - said he was ‘bemused' that Leicestershire's Conservatives refused to investigate the source of the leak of the 'confidential' letter, dating from 2007, which ultimately resulted in his dismissal.
At the time an internal Conservative group panel could not conclusively prove beyond reasonable doubt the identity of the source of the leak, or comment on the motives of the person in releasing the letter.
According to Sprason, disillusionment with the Conservative leadership on both a national and local basis lay behind his decision to join UKIP. ‘I believe that both have let local people down under the guise of localism,' Sprason stated.
He cited national issues such as planning, the environment, wind farms and gay marriage for his move, and accused the local party of failing ‘to show or respect compassion, loyalty and fairness to our electorate or to each other'.
Sprason said Leicestershire's staff deserved far better respect than they had been afforded and accused the Conservative leadership of announcing plans to shed 1,100 county jobs ‘in a blasé way'.
In shifting his political allegiance to UKIP, Cllr Sprason has been joined by fellow former Conservative councillor Rob Fraser who separately resigned from the Conservative Group to become an independent last September.
However, a Leicestershire spokesman told The MJ neither Sprason nor Fraser had yet followed council guidelines and confirmed their new political allegiances with council chief executive John Sinnott.
In response, Leicestershire leader, Cllr Nick Rushton, expressed his regret at Sprason's defection, and praised his work as cabinet lead for adult social care.
