Senior London Tory defects to support Paddick campaign

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Dirk Hazell, who was London Region chairman during the last mayoral election, claimed Boris Johnson was a "downgrade" from previous candidate Steve Norris.

The Tory councillor said the Tories could not be trusted to deliver, were "bossy and dodgy" and had "phoney" environmental policies. His defection will be a blow to the Johnson campaign as he was a key figure in the party's preparations for the last election in which Mr Norris came second.

It comes after a YouGov poll for ITN last week showed Mr Paddick had jumped five points from the previous month to 12 per cent.

Mr Paddick believes he can seize power if he makes it through to the second round of voting on 1 May.

"After last week's boost in the polls, Dirk's defection has added further momentum to my campaign. Many Tory voters don't want Ken but think Boris is a buffoon," he said.

"It's clear as I canvass people on their doorsteps that Boris Johnson cannot win this election. The only one that can bring serious change to London and beat Ken Livingstone is me."

Mr Hazell, whose three-year tenure as chairman from 2002 to 2005 saw the most electoral wins for the party in the capital, said: "London needs real change. Not the Norris-to-Boris downgrade but a Mayor with insight and experience from a vocation protecting law-abiding Londoners.

"I left the Tories because they are as bossy and dodgy as Labour, because their environmental pretensions are phoney and because Europhobes harm Britain. I joined the Liberal Democrats because only Lib-Dem principles and only principled Lib-Dems like Brian Paddick will make Britain fair, free and green."

Mr Hazell stood as a parliamentary candidate for the Tories in 1994 and before that was a Merton councillor for eight years. He has been chief executive of the Environmental Services Association since 1999.