THE Labour Party hopeful at the next general election said he will be voting for a Basingstoke and Deane borough councillor to stand down and face the electorate again after a controversial political switch.

Cllr Paul Harvey, who is the Cabinet member for employment, skills and learning, said he will be backing the motion calling on Cllr Ian Powney to resign at tomorrow's full council meeting.

Cllr Powney caused a storm two weeks ago when he switched back to the Liberal Democrats - nearly six months after achieving a shock win in the Popley East ward as an Independent.

Cllr Powney was a Lib-Dem councillor in Islington before he moved to Basingstoke last year. When he stood in Popley East this June, he unseated, by a big margin, the leader of the Labour/Lib-Dem administration on Basingstoke council, Cllr Rob Donnelly.

The motion Cllr Harvey said he will vote for has been tabled by Independent councillor Ian Tilbury, from Overton.

It reads: "In view of Cllr Powney's broken promise to the electorate of East Popley, 'I pledge to be independent of political parties', this council calls on him to resign and stand for re-election as a Liberal Democrat."

Cllr Powney has already said he intends to defend his position.

Cllr Harvey, who this week also called on Basingstoke MP Andrew Hunter to seek re-election following his switch to the Democratic Unionist Party in the House of Commons, said: "Andrew has never made a secret of his views, whereas Cllr Powney has misled the electorate. I think it is a matter of integrity for politicians.

"We stand on a ticket to represent the people we are elected by. I think we should stand by our principles.

"This has shown just how opportunistic the Lib-Dems can be."

On Friday, it was revealed that Mr Hunter, who has announced he is retiring at the next general election, would be taking the DUP whip in the House of Commons - making him the party's first MP with a seat in England.

In 2002, he quit the Conservative whip and sat as an Independent Conservative so he could prepare for the Northern Ireland Assembly elections held last year. However, he narrowly failed to win a seat.

This week he said he would not stand down and trigger a by-election because a general election is thought highly likely in the spring.

He said Mr Harvey's call for him to immediately face the electorate as a DUP member was a bit like "turkeys voting for Christmas".

He said: "I cannot believe Paul Harvey really wants an election twice in a year."

Mr Hunter added he remains a member of the Conservative Party and will canvass for Maria Miller - the Conservatives' prospective parliamentary candidate - at the next general election.

Jen Smith, the Liberal Democrat prospective parliamentary candidate for Basingstoke, did not call for Mr Hunter to stand down and instead said his actions were "irrelevant" as people were looking for a change.

"Tory councillors are demanding that Cllr Ian Powney resigns for joining the Liberal Democrats," she said.

"I just wonder how many of these same Tory councillors will now demand that Andrew Hunter resign?

"The big difference is that Ian Powney will continue to give 100 per cent to the residents in Popley East, whereas Andrew Hunter is dividing his attention between two electorates that are hundreds of miles apart."

Miss Smith claimed of Mr Hunter: "He will be looking to his future and Basingstoke people will get second best."