Claudette jumps from Tories to Lib Dems as party’s majority goes up
CLAUDETTE Harrower, a Mid Devon District Council member for Westexe, has announced her departure from the Conservative Party to join the Liberal Democrats.
The decision has altered the council’s composition, which now includes 34 Liberal Democrats, three Conservatives, three Green Party members and two independents.
Councillor Harrower, a Conservative since the late 1970s, has served on Tiverton Town Council for eightand-a-half years and was elected to Mid Devon District Council in 2023.
Despite not being re-elected to the town council, she affirmed her commitment to the town, stating: “I haven’t stopped working for the town. I wear a different hat. I won’t stop because I love my community and want it to thrive.”
However, she expressed her growing dissatisfaction with the directives coming down from Westminster, which she said she found increasingly difficult to accept.
She also voiced her concern for the local population, particularly the elderly, who she believes should be prioritised in allocating funds from Westminster. She shared a poignant story of a grandmother in Westexe who chose to forego heating in winter to continue the tradition of buying Christmas presents for her grandchildren.
Despite her long-standing affiliation with the Conservative Party, Cllr Harrower felt her convictions had been eroded.
“If I’d have stayed as a Conservative, I’d have been disloyal to myself,” she said, adding: “I have been following what went on at a local level at Mid Devon District Council, though I was not then elected as a councillor, and I was saddened by some of the things I witnessed by going in to sit at meetings. Some of it didn’t sit well with me.
“I thought I’d try and make a difference and try and get elected again as a Conservative. I worked very hard and was well supported by Westexe. Many people who voted for me didn’t vote for me as a Conservative; they voted for me as Claudette because I have worked hard for Westexe and the town of Tiverton, and I’ve been privileged to do that because I was voted in.
“But during the last 10 months, I have seen my colleagues in the Liberal Democrat party bond and work together. They have taken on the rather daunting task of balancing our books for Mid Devon. I’ve been privileged to have been partying to see that happening, and I applaud them.”
She continued: “There’s still a lot of work to do and I will still work as hard as I can to support Westexe and Tiverton, but it will be as a Liberal Democrat because although my heart may still give me problems because I’ve left the Conservative Party, my head is telling me that this is the right move for me, and that is why I’ve made this decision.”
In conclusion, she affirmed her commitment to her constituents, saying: “I have done the right thing for me at this time. That way, I can continue to give 100% to anybody in Tiverton and Mid Devon, particularly Westexe, who comes to me for help.”