Conservative councillor admits he feels 'betrayed' by colleagues who defected

He said that Ms Clapper had campaigned on a Conservative manifesto, earning the support of local voters, only to then defect to another party.

Speaking to GB News host Andrew Pierce at the Conservative conference, Mr Clarkson said: "It is very difficult.

"I studied the parliamentary election last year in Stevenage, I am actually a councillor in Hertsmere, and it was two Hertsmere councillors who defected yesterday.

"It is so difficult to come on here, Andrew, and talk about two people who are my dear friends, not only friends, but people I had gone out and helped get elected.

"Councillor Clapper was elected in a very safe Conservative division in May of this year.

"She was elected as a Conservative on a Conservative manifesto, and Conservative voters voted for her.

"It’s very difficult and one does feel betrayed. You do feel let down.

"Caroline Clapper was on GB News with Martin Daubney yesterday and said she’d been considering this for a couple of years.

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"How then can you go on the doorsteps and knock on doors pretending you’re a Conservative, all the while thinking of defecting to another party?”

The Conservative Party was hit with a wave of defections this week, with Reform UK welcoming more than a dozen councillors in a single day.

The additions take Nigel Farage’s party past 900 councillors nationwide, as former Conservatives switch allegiance across more than a dozen councils.

Reform UK originally secured 677 council seats in the May elections and has since boosted its numbers by 228 through by-elections and defections.

Mrs Badenoch told ITV News: "People who jump around because they’re jumping around polls are not people who can deal with tough times.

"If they cannot deal with tough times in opposition, how are they going to deal with tough times in Government?

"We need people who can see through difficult times, not jump into whatever lifeboat they think is passing by. We’re going to get to the destination. It’s going to be a long, difficult journey.”

Mrs Badenoch also said she was “sorry to lose people on the way” and continued: “But we’re going to where we need to get to and we need to hold our nerve.”