A couple of years ago, I toyed with the idea of standing for my local council. In the end, I didn’t go through with it.

The problem I faced was that none of the main political parties matched my own political beliefs closely enough.

If I tried really hard, I could find elements from all their manifestos I could align my views with (to be honest, it was harder to find policies that resonated with me from some parties than others).

Having decided I wasn’t a party man, I actually contemplated standing as an independent. That, I thought, would have given me the freedom to act and vote according to my conscience and political beliefs.

At that particular stage of my life, my somewhat reduced employment status meant I would have had the time to devote to council business had I been elected.

Then everything changed and my ‘spare time’ diminished rapidly. In the end I was talked out of standing by my wife who probably saved me from a world of pain and criticism in these days of social media keyboard warriors where everyone is an expert who believes their opinion needs to be heard.

At the election I had initially targeted, there were a couple of independent councillors actually elected so perhaps my chances, had I stood, were not as slim as I imagined them to be.

A couple of months into the lifetime of the new council things suddenly started to change. One of the independent councillors announced he was joining the Labour group and not long after, one of the Labour councillors resigned the whip and continued on the council as an independent. Doesn’t feel right, does it?

Which brings us neatly to the goings-on in the Cheshire West and Cheshire Council ward of Hartford and Greenbank and Cllr Phil Herbert. Rewind to the last year’s CWAC elections and Cllr Herbert stood as an independent, promising Hartford and Greenbank voters he would ‘be free from restrictive party politics’.

According to Guardian chief reporter Stephen Topping, Cllr Herbert has ‘crossed the floor’ and joined CWAC’s Conservative group – taking their total number of council seats to 29, six behind Labour’s 35.

Let’s just have a look at what Cllr Herbert had to say in the run up to the election in May, shall we?

His election material made much of his independence. An election pamphlet sent to Hartford and Greenbank residents called on them to vote for him, saying: “Are you fed up with party politics and councillors that put their party before their community?

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“As independent councillors we will be free from restrictive party politics, we will always put the interests of Hartford and Greenbank first.

“Instead of decisions being based upon what is beneficial to the community, they are often made according to a party line to which party affiliated councillors are expected to obey.

“Independent councillors, if elected, could really make a difference in favour of our communities rather than the political vested interests.”

To a large extent, I support that view and I think truly independent councillors are a benefit to their communities and the councils they sit on.

So what’s brought about the Damascene change for Cllr Herbert? Well apparently, he feels that switching to the Conservatives will enable him to work more closely with Tory Cllr Patricia Parkes who won the other Hartford and Greenbank seat and as a result ‘we can achieve even more for our residents’.

And he also had something to say about politics on a national level: “I think Boris Johnson is doing a great job as Prime Minister, especially during these difficult times,” he said. “And only the Conservatives will be able to deliver the best Brexit deal for the country.”

I have a real problem with this, not just Cllr Herbert but any elected politician who crosses the floor at any level, be that parish, borough or parliamentary level. When I go into a polling booth to put my cross next to the name of a candidate, there are many factors that come into play.

One is my view of the perceived personality and capabilities of the candidate. Another determinant is the party (or in the case of independents, the absence of party) they represent.

I have no problems whatsoever with people’s political views changing over time (mine certainly have) but if you stand on a particular platform, are voted in on the basis of your manifesto and then you change your mind, you’ve short-changed your voters.

I’m not a Hartford and Greenbank voter but if I was, I’d be pretty angry at the moment. In this case, people who voted for an independent got a Tory. And that’s not right.

I would respectfully suggest that the honourable thing to do is to resign the seat, put yourself and your new-found allegiance back to the people and let them decide at the polls.