Former Brighton and Hove mayor Jenny Barnard-Langston and her husband Mark today quit the Tories to join the Liberal Democrats.

Lib Dem leader Paul Elgood welcomed the couple and said the defection was proof his party would soon relegate the Conservatives into third place on Brighton and Hove City Council.

But Tory leader Brian Oxley said they had betrayed the trust of voters and branded them a "circus sideshow."

Coun Barnard-Langston, who represents Goldsmid ward, said: "The Conservative Party nationally appears to be a ship without a rudder seeking to appeal to the populist vote.

"Locally they are struggling to put together policies that will make a difference to people's lives. Instead they are self-seeking and personally ambitious."

Coun Barnard-Langston said the last straw came on Thursday when Tories at a council meeting put up Coun Pat Drake for the mayoralty instead of backing the Liberal Democrat nominee, David Watkins, who had the support of the ruling Labour group.

She added: "I can no longer remain in a party which consistently looks to personal ambitions and not to the good of the community."

Her husband said: "Housing is one of the main points I have campaigned for on behalf of the people in Hangleton since I became a councillor.

"Labour wants to sell off the council's housing stock and the Tories did nothing to oppose that at the General Election.

"I wanted to campaign locally on that issue which is particularly important in an area like Hangleton, where we need more and better housing, not less.

"I was told by the Tory leadership locally I could not campaign on the issue and that I should toe the party line.

"That is just one of many reasons why Jenny and I have become disillusioned with the weak leadership of the Conservatives at all levels."

Coun Elgood said informal talks had taken place between them for several months but the couple decided to make the move last night.

He said: "They rang me and asked me for a meeting at 10pm and we were up until 2am discussing the details of their resignations."

The couple married last year after the death of Coun Barnard-Langston's husband, Steve.

Coun Barnard-Langston was the first opposition mayor of Brighton and Hove in 1999 and has chaired East Sussex County Council's education committee.

Last June she contested the Hove Parliamentary seat for the Tories but lost to Labour's Ivor Caplin.

Tory leader Brian Oxley said: "This is far more about Mrs Barnard-Langston's problems in finding a role for herself in local politics after having been mayor and standing for Parliament than it is about any so-called issues she and her husband may have had with the Conservative party or group.

"She has been given tremendous leeway and opportunity since June by the party but has decided to turn her back on those who genuinely wished to help her."

He added: "She has betrayed the trust of those who voted and worked so hard for her as a Conservative candidate in the General Election and as a Conservative councillor in Goldsmid ward. So has Mr Barnard in Hangleton."

Coun Oxley said the party remained united and focused on taking control of the council in 2003. He added: "We have no time for the circus sideshow that has become Mrs Barnard-Langston and her husband."