Wandsworth’s most senior Liberal Democrat has defected to Labour after 30 years with the party.

Jeremy Ambache blamed the coalition Government's controversial proposals for the NHS for his decision to rejoin the party he turned his back on in 1981.

Mr Ambache left Labour at the time to help found the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and in the years that followed was a political activist in Wandsworth, in London and in by-elections across the UK.

He stood for Parliament in 1987 for the SDP in Tooting and 2005 for the Liberal Democrats in Putney - and helped work on Nick Clegg’s leadership campaign.

But Mr Ambache this week said: "The NHS proposals are muddled; it is unclear as to what problems they are aiming to tackle; and it is uncertain as to what the major reorganisations might actually achieve.

"I have decided that the Lib Dems have lost their way. The party appears to have lost the commitment to more social equality; and now I think that Ed Milliband’s Labour party is the strongest supporter of a more just society.

"It's a big move for me to leave the Lib Dems and join Labour - but that’s where I feel there will be strongest impetus for a radical realignment of left of centre politics."

Tooting MP Sadiq Khan said he was "really pleased" by Mr Ambache's decision, adding he would be "welcomed by thousands of local residents".

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