Former Royal Borough councillor announces he is leaving UKIP

A former Royal Borough councillor who left the Conservative Party and defected to UKIP has announced he is leaving the party.

Tom Bursnall joined UKIP in 2012 with his wife Catherine, former mayor of Windsor and Maidenhead, while he was councillor for Windsor’s Clewer East ward.

During his time at UKIP, the 35-year-old recruitment consultant established himself as one of the party’s most senior officials and was a member of its National Executive Committee.

But the Windsor resident said he felt the time was right to take some time out from politics.

He said: “There’s a host of reasons why I left the party but overall the party that I joined in 2012 is different to where it is now in terms of direction.

“The party didn’t do as well as it could have done in the election and I don’t think there’s been a proper post-mortem.

“I’ve dedicated the last eight years of my life to politics and I’d like to concentrate on business and spend time with my family for a while.”

Bursnall also added that he felt UKIP leader Nigel Farage should have stepped down after May’s General Election but maintained the pair had shared a positive relationship.

“He (Farage) was very positive for the most part. We had one or two disagreements towards the end and I felt there should have been a change,” he added.

“But it was a really exhilarating time and seeing the inner workings of a party on the rise was fascinating.”