The former deputy mayor of London said he had been thinking about taking the step for some time, after he was one of 13 Conservative councillors to be deselected from the 2014 candidate list in June last year.
“I love this town,” said Mr Barnes at Monday’s Harefield Tenants’ and Residents’ Association (HTRA) meeting.
“I have lived here for 25 years and want to continue to give a voice to those who don’t have one.”
Hillingdon Council leader Ray Puddifoot reacted swiftly to Mr Barnes’s announcement, saying he was ‘no longer on the same page’ as the rest of the Conservative Group.
“We do feel sorry for him,” he said. “He has had a tough time recently in both his private and political life, but in truth, Richard has played no real part at all in what Hillingdon Conservatives have achieved for this borough over the past 12 years.
“We have had a large enough majority to enable us to carry a few passengers, but Harefield is the only two-member ward in the borough, and with councillor Henry Higgins [Con] submitting around 80 per cent of the members enquiries for that ward last year, we needed to find a harder-working candidate for Harefield.”
Mr Barnes will stand alongside fellow independent Atul Sodha, 42, owner of Londis, in Moorhall Road.
He said: “I have owned the shop for 25 years and my family had it for 10 years before me.
“The village has been good to me, so I want to give something back.
“I’ve got a good running partner with Richard – he has masses of experience and has done wonders for me in the past.”
Most people at the HTRA meeting applauded the pair’s announcement.
Harefield could witness one of the more interesting electoral battles in the borough come May 22, with independent and UKIP candidates vying to reduce the Conservative vote.
