MPs’ confused reactions to Tory defection caught on TV – as Mordaunt warns PM
Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt was caught on camera warning Rishi Sunak that a Tory MP had just joined Labour before he took to the despatch box for PMQs.
The Tory minister could be seen whispering to colleagues on the frontbench when they realised Natalie Elphicke had crossed the floor of the Commons chamber and was sitting with Labour MPs. From one camera angle, Ms Mordaunt can be seen putting on her glasses to check her eyes were not deceiving her before she decided to warn the PM.
As Wales Secretary David Davies answered questions from MPs from the despatch box, Ms Mordaunt can be seen speaking to Tory Chief Whip Simon Hart and Deputy PM Oliver Dowden as she cranes her head back to see if Mr Sunak had entered the chamber. The senior Tory then walked over to the PM, who was standing by the Speaker’s chair to warn him, just one minute before PMQs kicked off.
Other MPs were also spotted on camera with an incredulous look on their face as Ms Elphicke, who was considered right-wing Tory MP, joined the Labour opposition benches. It came just a fortnight after Tory MP Dr Dan Poulter announced he was defecting to Keir Starmer’s party.
Mr Sunak would have been glad for the warning, as Mr Starmer opened PMQs by welcoming Ms Elphicke and saying: “If one week a Tory MP who is 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?”
Deputy Tory Chairman Jonathan Gullis was among those spotted on camera as he tapped other MPs around him and pointed across to Ms Elphicke on the Labour benches. The Tory MP later told GB News: “Suddenly I noticed Natalie was sat behind him…. None of us knew until that very moment.”
He continued: “I think it shows she is pretty spineless. She didn’t have the guts to announce it before. She snuck into the chamber and took a seat and hoped it would go under the radar until Sir Keir would point her out. It’s going to be a very lonely role for her.”
Labour MPs were also said to be shocked at the move, with Shadow Cabinet ministers even kept in the dark. Dawn Butler was caught on camera looking down at Ms Elphicke. After her expression was pointed out on Twitter/X, the Labour MP said the reaction caught “was after some serious adjustment”.
Mr Starmer is facing anger from some Labour MPs that the former Tory was accepted into the party. Ms Elphicke was a staunch supporter of Boris Johnson and took tough views on issues such as immigration. In 2022, Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves said Ms Elphicke could “f*** off” after she attacked free school meals campaigner Marcus Rashford.
She 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.
