Sign up to receive two FREE daily bulletin e-mails, as well as breaking news as it happens Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Derby's five UKIP councillors have swapped allegiance and joined Nigel Farage's Brexit Party.

The group will continue to be led on the city council by Alan W Graves senior, ward councillor for Alvaston.

The other councillors to switch parties are John Evans and Kirk Kus, also representing Alvaston, and Paul Bettany and Alan J Graves junior, both of Boulton ward.

Mr Graves senior, said that the Brexit process has become the new political football taking the place of the NHS and education as an issue.

He said: "The delay is bad for Britain and the government and parliamentarians need to understand how important it is to carry out the wishes of the people of our country.

"UKIP no longer has the clout to achieve what the majority of people voted for and there comes a time when all councillors have to decide what is important.

"More people voted for the Brexit Party in Derby in the European elections than UKIP and we should listen to them very carefully. We are doing that."

(Image: Derby Telegraph /Alex Cantrill-J)

In May's local elections in Derby, UKIP defied the national odds by returning two extra councillors to the city council - bringing the total to five with the addition of Mr Graves' son, also called Alan, and Mr Kus - at a time when UKIP's share of the vote was slipping.

The fall off in support for UKIP was further emphasised at the end of May when the party came in a lowly sixth in the Derby City Council area - behind all the major parties.

Across the East Midlands, the Brexit Party polled 452,321 votes and UKIP managed 58,198 - a far cry from the 2014 European Elections when UKIP received the biggest number of votes, producing 24 MEPS.

In the 2019 local elections, UKIP lost around 80% of the seats it was defending and lost all its seats in the European elections polling just 3.3% of the vote nationally.

Mr Graves senior added: “Issues such as the NHS, education and social services are being sidelined affecting millions of people while feeble parliamentarians allow Brexit to fester.

"We have decided that the best way to support Derby and our residents is to support the party that can force carrying out the decision the country made in 2016."

Since May 2018, Mr Graves' UKIP councillors have been supporting the Conservative administration - along with the Lib Dems - to retain a working majority on the city council.

Constitutionally, it is unlikely to make any difference in the city's council chamber, although it is possible for councillors from other parties to call for by-elections in Alvaston and Boulton. Mr Graves senior said it would be "business as usual".