Natalie Elphicke defects to Labour
Dover MP Natalie Elphicke has become the second Conservative to defect to the Labour Party in a fortnight criticising the “broken promises” of Rishi Sunak’s government.
In the latest blow to the Prime Minister, Elphicke crossed the floor in the Commons moments before Sunak faced Sir Keir Starmer in the Commons after a bruising set of local elections for the Tories.
She said her decision was due to fears over “housing and the safety and security of our borders” and argued Labour had taken over the centre of British politics.
Her decision comes less than two weeks after former health minister Dr Dan Poulter announced he would be defecting to Labour for his remaining months in office, before standing down at the next election.
Since taking over as MP in 2019, Elphicke has been outspoken on the issue of small boats crossing the Channel and has adopted a hardline approach to illegal immigration.
In Prime Minister’s Questions, Starmer goaded Sunak about her criticism of the Government’s immigration policies.
“What is the point of this failed Government staggering on,” he asked, when “the Tory MP for Dover on the front line of small boats crisis says the Prime Minister cannot be trusted with our borders and joins Labour?”.
Starmer’s decision to welcome Elphicke into the party prompted outrage from some on the left who oppose her approach to immigration.
Momentum, the left wing grassroots group, said “hard right” Elphicke should “have no place in a Labour Party committed to progressive values and working class people”.
A spokesperson said: “Natalie Elphicke has consistently demonised refugees and aid groups. She voted against Labour proposals to outlaw fire and rehire, while supporting a wide array of destructive and damaging Tory legislation.”
Announcing her defection, Elphicke said: “From small boats to biosecurity, Rishi Sunak’s government is failing to keep our borders safe and secure. Lives are being lost in the English Channel while small boat arrivals are once again at record levels.”
On housing, she said “Sunak’s Government is now failing to build the homes we need” and implied she would be working closely with Labour on its housing policy, adding: “I’m honoured to have been asked to work with Keir and the team to help deliver the homes we need.”
She accused the Conservatives, under Sunak’s leadership, of becoming “a byword for incompetence and division”.
Elphicke said in her statement that, under Starmer’s leadership, Labour had “changed out of all recognition” and “occupies the centre ground of British politics”.
The decision also incited anger from Tory MPs, with former minister Dame Andrea Jenkyns attacking her for the decision on X, writing: “I thought you had more conviction than to join the lefty labour lot you despised so much!”
An article, written by Elphicke in the Daily Express, was shared widely with its headline reading: “Don’t trust Labour on immigration they really want open borders, warns Natalie Elphicke.”
Ms Elphicke was elected as Dover’s Conservative MP in 2019, taking over the seat which had been held by her disgraced then-husband Charlie, who was jailed for two years after being found guilty in 2020 of sexually assaulting two women.
