North West Leicestershire Conservatives have given a scathing response to Ashby-based Dan Harrison's decision to switch from the Conservative Party to Reform UK.

County Councillor Keith Merrie MBE issued a statement after Cllr Harrison announced he was now representing Reform UK at Leicestershire County Council - and would be standing for that party in Ashby at local elections in May instead of his current Ibstock & Appleby Ward.

But the move has not gone down well with the local branch of the Conservative Party, with Cllr Merrie offering a different view of Cllr Harrison's decision.

Ashby Nub News has contacted Cllr Harrison for further comment following the claims made below.

In a statement, Cllr Merrie said: "This morning, we learned that Councillor Dan Harrison has defected to Reform ahead of the upcoming County Council elections in May.

"His decision comes not from a place of principle, but out of personal grievance and political self-preservation.

"Late last year, during the Conservative Party's selection process, Cllr Harrison chose not to seek re-adoption in his current division of Ibstock and Appleby. Instead, he put himself forward for the Ashby Division, where he was one of four applicants.

Ibstock councillor Dan Harrison. Photo: Coalville Nub News

"While he made it through to the final two, the local Ashby branch ultimately selected Cllr Ray Morris over him. This decision was later ratified by the North West Leicestershire Conservative Association's Executive Committee, making Cllr Morris the official Conservative candidate for Ashby.

"Rather than accepting the democratic decision of the membership, Cllr Harrison responded with frustration and hostility.

"He chose not to appeal through the proper channels but instead sought to stir division within the association, wrongly accusing members of orchestrating a vendetta against him. He even claimed to have spent £6,000 on legal representation to take the association to court, a claim that remains unsubstantiated.

"For a time, this bitterness subsided when it appeared the County Council elections might be delayed, allowing him to hold onto his Ibstock & Appleby seat despite previously rejecting it.

"However, when it was confirmed in January that elections would proceed as scheduled, and having burned every bridge within the Conservative Party, he made a last-ditch attempt to save his political career by defecting to Reform.

"This would now be his third County Council division, the political equivalent of taking your ball home because you have been told you can't play in goal.

"If Reform wants to welcome rejected, unelectable, and self-serving careerists, they are welcome to them. The people of North West Leicestershire deserve better than political opportunists."