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A Tory councillor in Bracknell Forest has announced he is defecting to UKIP because he is disenchanted with his party.

Councillor Will Davison, who represents Hanworth ward, announced his defection at a public meeting organised by UKIP in Owlsmoor Community centre this evening.

The meeting was set up by UKIP parliamentary candidate for Bracknell Richard Thomas.

Mr Thomas said: "I welcome Will Davison to UKIP.

"He is a hard working councillor, who has represented the residents of Hanworth and Birch Hill really well. He has been a town councillor for 12 years and a borough councillor for four years.

"Will has decided to join UKIP as he has, like many others, become disillusioned with the current Government.

"He will be taking a full part in the UKIP group on Bracknell Forest Council and will continue the great work he has been doing on behalf of the residents of Hanworth and Birch Hill.

"He will also be a vital part of our team working for UKIP to take control of Bracknell Forest Council at the elections on May 7.”

Mr Davison said: "At the start of this new year I felt it was time to re-evaluate where my political allegiances lay, having become increasingly disenchanted with the actions of the Conservatives both locally, and in the Coalition Government.

"Thus, I have decided to leave the Conservatives and join UKIP."

He listed the UKIP policies he finds most attractive as:

a referendum on membership of the EU.

a return of sovereignty to the UK - British people should decide their own laws without inappropriate legislation being imposed on them by Brussels

removing the commitment to spending 0.7 per cent GDP on foreign aid, restricting it to humanitarian aid only

£3 billion extra to the NHS, with trimming of unnecessary management posts

reversing decline in funding for armed services

scrapping expensive 'vanity' projects such as HS2

He went on: "At local level, I particularly like the promise that local councillors are free to vote according to the wishes of their residents rather than a party.

"A good example of where this would have been applicable is when three councillors were expelled from the Conservatives for voting against the Site Allocations Local Plan when told not to by the Conservative group on Bracknell Forest Council.

"Two of those three are now UKIP councillors.

"At the elections this coming May, I hope to see the UKIP parliamentary candidate Richard Thomas returned as the MP for Bracknell.

"At the European elections in 2014, more people in this constituency voted for UKIP than for the Conservatives, so this is a realistic prospect.

"Richard is a local man, born and brought up in Bracknell and still living in the constituency so he knows the area well and has a strong commitment to serving the local people.

"I would also like to see increased representation by UKIP Councillors on our borough, town and parish councils.

"Currently the Conservatives have a stranglehold on our local councils meaning there is no effective opposition and they do what they like."

Bracknell Forest council has 42 councillors and Cllr Davison's defection means the council now has 37 Conservatives, three UKIP and two Labour councillors.