A Lib Dem councillor has defected to the Labour party because of the new leader Jeremy Corbyn's "political courage and authenticity".
Jennifer Churchill, who sits on Richmond upon Thames council, told BuzzFeed News that Lib Dem leader Tim Farron "doesn't seem to have his own views" on big issues, and her attention turned to Labour after she identified Corbyn as a "unique" politician who can fight against Tory austerity.
"The defection became a real possibility once [Corbyn] was elected leader," said Churchill. "I've been consistently anti-austerity since the coalition was forced, and after the last election, so it just felt like the right thing to do.
"[Corbyn] is a liberal which is important to me, but more importantly he has political courage and he has authenticity which Labour members have picked up on – I want to be part of the effort to get the public at large to respond to that as well."
Churchill is now the borough's first Labour councillor in over a decade – although her partner remains a Lib Dem politician. She was critical of Farron and former Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg.
Later on today, Farron is due to give a conference speech defending the record of the coalition government, but Churchill thinks he should be ashamed of it despite her serving as a Lib Dem councillor throughout the period.
"The coalition was an outright disaster," she said. "It forced ludicrous economic thinking on the country to the detriment to our most vulnerable people and it's not something he should look back on with pride – he should be looking forward and saying what should be changed.
"[Farron] is a very decent guy and while we share many values, I'm not sure he has confidence in his own economic understanding so he ends up blowing in the wind a bit. He doesn't seem to have his own views on the big economic questions so he ends up parroting the Tory line and claiming it's the centre, but it's not the centre."
Churchill started considering her defection as she tracked Corbyn's transformation from the rank outsider in the Labour leadership race – with odds at 200/1 at one stage – to the overwhelming favourite, eventually winning a landslide victory with 60% of the vote.
"His campaign felt like something quite unique," she said. "You never worry he's going to say something because it's expedient, it will always be because it's what he thinks. That level of authenticity can't be faked, and I truly believe that's what got people interested.
"The more people see of him – the more people like me who share his views and stand up to say we shouldn't jump on a bandwagon and dismiss him in five minutes – the better. He needs time and support to get his message out and he will win people over."
Churchill's partner, Stephen Knight, is a Lib Dem member of the London Assembly, but she said he was very supportive of her decision to jump ship to Jeremy Corbyn's party and that he even put her in contact with Labour to arrange the defection.
"It was a personal decision, most of my discussions were with my partner," said Churchill. "He gave me a number I could call from someone in the Labour party. And he understands where I'm coming from, he's very supportive. He didn't try to persuade me to stay, that's not really how our relationship works."
Churchill now wants to be part of the effort to transform Corbyn from a popular figure within the Labour party into a credible candidate to become prime minister at the next general election in 2020.
Asked if Corbyn can become prime minister, she replied: "Absolutely, yes."