Sixteen Conservative councillors have now defected to Reform this morning - on the Tories' third day of their conference.

Leader Kemi Badenoch has defended her record amid the defections, saying the Conservative Party is "shedding a lot of the baggage of the last 14 years".

She told ITV: "Just last year, we had MPs jumping to Labour because Labour was doing well in the polls. They're not doing so well now.

"There are some people who will leave because all they want to do is win elections. They don't know what they're winning the elections for."

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