Leader of Leicester’s Conservative Party returns to Labour

The leader of the Conservative opposition on Leicester City Council has rejoined the Labour Party.

Councillor Deepak Bajaj defected to the Conservatives in September 2022, criticising the ruling Labour group’s leadership at the time, for a “complete failure of democratic processes”.

The Labour Party confirmed that he would “now serve the Leicester city community from the Labour benches”.

Councillor Hemant Rae Bhatia, the Tory group whip on the council, said Mr Bajaj’s departure was “really sad”, adding he was “personally very disappointed with this development”.