A FORMER Liberal Democrat ward councillor who has twice been a parliamentary candidate, is ‘swapping’ his vote to try and elect the Labour Party to the Shipley constituency.

John Cole said despite being one of the people to endorse the Lib Dem candidate, Caroline Jones, he is putting his mark against Labour’s Jo Pike as he feels she is best placed to oust the Conservatives from the seat.

But the move has been condemned as ‘an example of a broken political system’ and prompted a call for proportional representation.

Mr Cole said: “I was one of the 10 signatories to the nomination paper for Caroline Jones.

“I certainly endorse her as a person worthy to be on the ballot paper but I do not feel constrained to vote for her when the national situation (in my view) requires that we minimise the number of Conservative MPs elected.

The staunch Remainer added: “What drives me above all else is the need to stop Brexit - especially Boris Johnson’s damaging hard Brexit. I do not do this lightly or inadvisedly. I would not have done it without access to the vote swap with a reliable voter in the Cambridge area.

“For years I have consistently voted Liberal Democrat in the Baildon ward of Shipley constituency. However, next week I am voting Labour.

“Two factors have driven my switch. First, Jo Pike is the only candidate with a chance of unseating the incumbent Tory. Secondly, I have been put in touch with a Labour voter in an East Anglian constituency where the Liberal Democrat candidate has a chance of winning. My Labour ”pair” will vote Liberal Democrat on my behalf whilst I vote Labour on his.

“I see this vote swap as a way of making our votes more effective. I have great respect for Caroline Jones.If we had a proportional voting system Caroline would have been my clear first choice.”

Celia Hickson, Green Party candidate said: “I am standing in this election to give every vote the opportunity to vote Green but what people do on polling day is entirely up to them.

“Whichever way you look at it, vote swapping highlights just how broken our political system is. First past the post forces people to vote for the second or third preference because that will keep their least favourite candidate from winning and this is absurd.”

Darren Longhorn, Yorkshire Party candidate said he could understand why people might chose to vote swap, but said it would not be necessary if parties were proportionately represented.

Caroline Jones said: “Labour are not a Remain Party, they are committed to negotiating a new Brexit deal. Liberal Democrats are the only party at this election committed to stopping Brexit so we can protect local jobs and invest more in the NHS and social and care.I am fighting for every vote in Shipley and standing up for all the people locally who want to stop Brexit and build a brighter future for the country.”

Philip Davies, Conservative candidate who has held the seat since 2005 said: “The only tactical voting people need to bear in mind is that we must stop the disaster of the hard left-wing Jeremy Corbyn, John McDonnell and Diane Abbott and their fantasy economics running the country at this election, and the only way to stop that nightmare is for people to vote Conservative.”

Jo Pike was not available for a comment.