Conservative councillor in Lancing defects to UKIP

A Conservative councillor on Lancing Parish Council has defected to UKIP, losing the Conservatives their wafer thin majority.

Cllr Leslie Sampson's defection means that the Conservatives and UKIP both have 7 councillors each on the council whilst the Lib Dems have two, paving the way for a challenge to the Conservative Party's leadership of the council.

The current Chairman of Lancing Parish Council, Conservative councillor James Butcher, said that Cllr Sampson should resign and stand for election as a UKIP candidate. Both of UKIP's MPs resigned after defecting and were re-elected under a UKIP banner. None of the UKIP councillors or MEPs who have defected to the Conservatives have ever resigned.