Well, well, well!
William McDougall – ex-Tory councillor on Haringey and their Tottenham candidate in the 2005 general election – has surfaced as a fully-fledged UKIP member. This is his endorsement for the candidate for Sedgefield by-election:
“I was the Tory Candidate for Tottenham in the last general election, and previously was both a Conservative on Haringey Council and Chairman of my local Conservative Association. Like Toby I have become fed up with the direction the Party has taken, and have now joined UKIP.
“If I wanted to support a social or liberal democratic group there are already two well established parties. If I wanted to support environmental extremists there is a third. But why support Cameron? He is losing the Tory base without convincing anyone else. His Ealing candidate even donates money to the Labour Party.”
Lynne Featherstone 
“Harnigey? 😉
Thanks 🙂
I only discovered that he had ‘resigned’ from the Party yesterday and by email, as I’m currently on my hols in the Derbyshire Dales (Tories do actually have holidays – even when there are by-elections on!) MacDougall’s membership had lapsed at the beginning of the year, so we’re not sure how he could have resigned. When I spoke to him on the subject of Europe during the ’05 campaign, he said that he opposed leaving the EU (a key UKIP policy!) Further more, he threatened to resign as our PPC when we, an inclusive Association, had Peter Tatchell address us. He failed to be put back on the approved candidates’ list (after my report to CCHQ). His switch is a case of sour grapes. This is a complete non-story, Lynne/Mark, but I’ll give you both an E for effort!
Dear Lynne,Thank you for spreading the news. And let add that I enjoyed working with you on Haringey Council.My resignation from the Conservative Party on Monday (then current in several local associations, whether or not that of Tottenham – where I don’t live – had lapsed) was a long and difficult choice reflecting the widespread dissatisfaction in the Party with David Cameron, and the fact that UKIP is no longer a single issue party.I can understand being Lib-Dem, or Labour, but why be a cheap imitation as seems to be Cameron’s goal?
Despite Mr Cameron’s Eton and Oxford background, he is probably the first Conservative leader aspiring to encourage people from under-represented communities to enter the party. According to viewpoints on the ground, the Conservatives’ have always been regarded as a party that never welcomed BME communities, however, this is gradually changing. From my own humble standpoint, in order for any party to reflect the truth feelings of ordinary people, the party’s structure and grassroots needs to reflect this need. British Asians have been traditionally Labour supporters. However, this has been changing, particularly with people within my community entering the party. For instance, we have had Sayeeda Warsi and Tony Lit and others who are taking up parliamentary roles or positions in the party. This is a step in the right direction. As David Cameron asserted, “The Conservative Party is a party for all the people of Britain, but we need to do more to reach out to all communities.” He further asserted, “That is why I understand we have to stress the Conservative principles of tolerance and fairness, and ensure that our Party becomes more inclusive and relevant to those communities we wish to serve.”ThanksMash