Moment Natalie Elphicke crossed the Commons ground in enormous blow to Rishi Sunak

Video shows the shocking moment former Tory MP Natalie Elphicke crossed the Commons floor to join Labour moments before the start of PMQs.

Ms Elphicke, the MP for Dover, launched a scathing attack on Rishi Sunak before taking her seat behind Keir Starmer. It is the second defection in a fortnight after Dr Dan Poulter also jumped ship.

Mr Starmer taunted the PM, stating: “One week a Tory MP who’s also a doctor, says the Prime Minister can’t be trusted with the NHS and joins Labour and the next week the Tory MP for Dover, on the front line of the small boats crisis, says the Prime Minister cannot be trusted with our borders and joins Labour.

“What is the point of this failed government staggering on?” Ms Elphicke, who was a staunch supporter of Boris Johnson and demanded a hard line on immigration, hit out at Mr Sunak in a withering statement.

She said: “Britain needs a Government that will build a future of hope, optimism, opportunity and fairness. A Britain everyone can be part of, that will make the most of the opportunities that lie ahead. That’s why it’s time for change. Time for a Labour Government led by Keir Starmer. The General Election cannot come soon enough.”

In a brutal attack on Mr Sunak’s government, Labour’s new MP for Dover said the PM had failed to keep the country’s borders safe. “Lives are being lost in the English Channel while small boat arrivals are once again at record levels. It’s clear they have failed to keep our borders secure and cannot be trusted,” she said.

The defection is likely to cause a backlash among some Labour supporters. A spokesman for Momentum, the left-wing activists network, sounded the alarm over her record. The spokesman 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. She should have no place in a Labour Party committed to progressive values and working-class people.”

Ms Elphicke was also temporarily suspended from the Commons in 2021 after she was found to have tried to influence a judge presiding over the trial of her then-husband, the disgraced Tory MP Charlie Elphicke. Mr Elphicke was sentenced to two years in prison in 2020 for sexually assaulting two women. She was elected as MP for Dover in 2019, his former seat.

Northern Ireland Minister Steve Baker was among Tory MPs to criticise the move, saying that he could not think of another Tory MP who thinks of themselves more right-wing than Ms Elphicke. He said a colleague quipped to him: “I didn’t realise there was any room to her right.” She was also ridiculed by Count Binface, the satirical political candidate, who said: “Natalie Elphicke tried defecting to me first but I said no. I’m taking the trash out, not in.”