Natalie Elphicke: Tory MP defects from Labor with attack on Rishi Sunak

Conservative MP Natalie Elphicke has defected to the Labor Party, saying the Tories had “become synonymous with incompetence and division”.

In a statement released just as PMQs began, the MP for Dover said the key factors in her decision were housing and border security.

She accused Rishi Sunak of “breaking promises” and failing to keep important commitments.

Labor will retain its existing candidate in Dover and Deal at the next general election and Ms Elphicke will stand down.

The constituency replaces Dover, where Ms Elphicke had a majority of 12,278 at the last election due to boundary changes.

Conservative transport minister Huw Merriman said he was “completely shocked” by the defection and accused Ms Elphicke of being “opportunistic”, while other Tory MPs said they were surprised as Ms Elphicke was on the right wing of their party.

In dramatic scenes, Prime Minister’s Questions began in the House of Commons as Ms Elphicke crossed the chamber and sat behind Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer.

There was amusement and confusion among many on the Conservative benches.

The news was only announced at midday and many Tory MPs had not realized that their former colleague was now sitting opposite them – directly behind Sir Keir and therefore in the camera shot as he spoke – rather than on their side.

Sir Keir welcomed them to the party and asked Mr Sunak: “What is the point of this failed government stumbling on” when “the Tory MP for Dover on the front line of the small boat crisis says that the Prime Minister will be given our borders and accessions cannot be trusted with “work”.

Dover is the arrival point of many people crossing the English Channel in small boats.

In her statement, Ms Elphicke said Mr Sunak’s government was failing to “keep our borders safe and secure” as people died in the English Channel and small boat arrivals reached “record levels”.

Last April, Ms Elphicke wrote in an article for the Express that Labor had “no plan of its own to tackle illegal immigration” and described the Government’s Rwanda plan as “world-leading”.

But she recently said she feared laws reviving the plan would not stop small boat crossings and suggested a repatriation deal with France would be more effective.

Asked if she had changed her mind on Labour’s immigration policy, Ms Elphicke said Mr Sunak had not stopped small boat crossings and Labor would address the issue.

Both the MP and the Labor Party insisted that she had not been offered a peerage to defect, but that she would be given an unpaid Labor position as an adviser to the party on housing policy.

Several sources claim that Labor politicians responsible for enforcing discipline expressed concerns about Ms Elphicke’s inclusion in the party, although Labor denied this.

Former Labor leader Lord Kinnock told BBC Radio 4’s The Week in Westminster: “I think we have to be selective to a certain extent about who we allow to join our party because it is a very broad church , but churches have walls and there are boundaries.”

He said Ms Elphicke would have to decide whether she was “committed to the program and principles of the Labor Party”.

Ms Elphicke was elected in 2019, taking over the Dover seat held by her disgraced then-husband Charlie Elphicke.

After his conviction, she gave an interview and said the allegations were “false” and that he had been punished for being “charming, wealthy, charismatic and successful.”

Labor MP Sarah Champion expressed reservations about “some of the things Ms Elphicke said to defend her ex-husband from the sexual abuse allegations”, telling BBC Radio Sheffield that she was “not good to me at all fit”.

A spokesman for the Labor leader said: “All of these issues have been discussed previously both in Parliament and in public.”

Ms Elphicke, who supported Liz Truss in the 2022 Tory leadership contest, was on the right wing of the Conservative Party and was a member of the Brexit-supporting European Research Group.

Sir Keir’s decision to welcome her to Labor drew criticism from some on the left of his party, particularly as Diane Abbott and Jeremy Corbyn remain suspended from the parliamentary Labor Party.

Left-wing campaign group Momentum said: “This far-right Tory should have no place in a Labor Party worthy of the name.”

“It speaks volumes about Keir Starmer that he welcomes her with open arms while leaving Diane Abbott out in the cold.”

On housing, Ms Elphicke said the government had “failed to build the homes we need” and had “betrayed” tenants and leaseholders by failing to deliver on its promises to end no-fault evictions and abolish ground rents .

“When I was elected in 2019, the Conservative Party was at the heart of British politics,” she said.

“Many things have changed since then. The elected Prime Minister (Boris Johnson) was overthrown in a coup led by the unelected Rishi Sunak.

“Under Rishi Sunak, the Conservatives have become the epitome of incompetence and division. The center has been abandoned and key promises of the 2019 manifesto have been abandoned.”

In contrast, she said Labor had “changed unrecognizably” since 2019 and was now “at the heart of British politics”.

She added that the party has a “plan to build the houses we need” and that its economic and defense policies are “responsible and trustworthy.”