A SENIOR Merseyside Conservative who stunned colleagues by defecting to Labour is to stand for the party in a must-win ward.

Les Byrom, a former Sefton Council leader and Conservative Parliamentary candidate, will attempt to unseat Lib-Dem councillor Peter Hough in Crosby’s marginal Victoria ward.

The Lib-Dems held on by just 149 votes in this year’s local election and Labour see the seat as key to election success outside their Bootle stronghold.

Cllr Byrom, who has served in Southport’s Dukes ward since 1985, quit the Tories after 35 years in 2008.

Last night, Cllr Byrom, 54, admitted “people would be reasonably sceptical” about his background.

He said: “When I left the Conservatives, I didn’t know what my future would be, whether there would be a place for me in local politics.

“But, as things have revealed themselves, here we are. It’s a new venture.

“My views on social justice and the way the world is ordered fits in with the ideology of the Labour Party and, if anything, it is the Labour Party that has come towards me in many respects.

“I’m very happy with the direction of the party and the new leadership.”

Cllr Byrom, a father-of-two, said “petty-mindedness” within Sefton Tories had forced his departure. He said at the time: “I was not prepared to be kicked any more.”

Labour party bosses took the decision to move him from his safe Tory ward in Southport at a meeting last week.

Cllr Byrom said: “I’m very pleased to be selected in Victoria ward. It’s actually where I lived for the first 16 years of my life.

“I went to school in Crosby at Coronation Road school, and I know the area pretty well. It’s the wheels of history turning full circle.

“I’m proud of what I have accomplished in Dukes ward, but if I want to carry on in local politics I have to find a seat that I can win and hold, and I am grateful to the Labour party for accepting me in Victoria.”

Lib-Dem opponent and standing councillor, Peter Hough, said he was “intrigued” by Cllr Byrom’s selection.

He said: “It is an interesting choice, and I look forward to campaigning against him and the policies of his new party."

Conservative leader Paula Parry called the move “unbelievable”.

She said: “I’m not sure if voters in Victoria ward would go for somebody who lives in Southport. It is not even nearly close. He is obviously desperate for a seat.”