Quentin Davies has defected from the Tories to join Labour. His letter of resignation is blogged elsewhere. In it he says that he is looking forward to joinging a party which has just acquired a leader which he has always greatly admired, whom he believes is entirely straightforward, and who has a towering record, and a clear vision for the future of our country which he fully shares. Whereas in a speech by Davies two years prior to his defection he described Gordon Brown as "extraordinarily incompetent", "imprudent", "extraordinarily naïve" and said in conclusion "I trust and believe that something nasty will happen to the Chancellor in electoral terms before too long. He will have no one but himself to blame."
Does Davies see something in the New Labour Leader Woodshed that has made him change his viewsand or our policies really becoming that alligned with the Tories to make someone with opinions and a voting record like Davies defect? He has stong anti-gay views and voted against the right of gay and unmarried couples to adopt. He also voted strongly in favour of the Iraq War but on a slightly positive note moderately against the introduction of foundation hospitals. That may have been just to oppose the Government and not due to any strongly held beliefs though.
Tory peer Tebbit said: "This defection will raise the average standard of members on the Conservative side and lower it on the Labour side." Shadow industry secretary Alan Duncan said Mr Davies was "not socially liberal" and against "a changed Conservative Party" and added: "basically he's quite grand and old fashioned, and I'm surprised that he finds that the Labour Party will offer him a happy home for those attitudes." But former Conservative MP Lord Temple Morris, who defected to Labour in 1998, said Mr Davies's decision showed "guts".
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