Two former Conservative Party supporters have now pledged their support for rivals Labour.

Jamshed Khan, a former Tory councillor in Bradford, and supporter Mohammed Rafiq pledged support for Labour at a meeting held at the home of Councillor Shabir Hussain (Lab, Manningham), the party confirmed yesterday.

The pair were cleared of electoral fraud charges at the Court of Appeal in 2011.

They had been convicted the year before, but this was overturned after appeal judges ruled they had not had a fair trial.

Bradford Council and Labour group leader, Coun David Green, said: “They have not been found guilty of any offence.”

He said the pair were among “five or six” prominent former Conservative supporters who had decided to instead pledge support to Labour at the meeting.