Former Tory MP Mark Logan DEFECTS to Labour
Former Tory MP Mark Logan tonight revealed he is defecting to Labour in another shattering blow for Rishi Sunak.
The 40-year-old was Conservative MP for Bolton North East before Parliament was dissolved today ahead of the general election on 4 July.
He announced his bombshell decision to now back Sir Keir Starmer‘s party as he claimed Labour could ‘bring back optimism into British life’.
Mr Logan said his application to join Labour was ‘going in today’.
The Brexiteer will not be a candidate at the general election but did not rule out running for Labour in the future.
Mr Logan supported Mr Sunak to be Tory leader in 2022 but did not criticise the Prime Minister personally as he explained why he was defecting.
Former Tory MP Mark Logan tonight revealed he is backing Labour at the general election in another shattering blow for Rishi Sunak
Earlier this year, Mr Logan broke ranks with the Prime Minister when he called for a ceasefire in Gaza
Mr Sunak, pictured on a general election campaign visit to Milton Keynes today, has now seen three former Tory MPs defect to Labour in little over a month
Earlier this year, Mr Logan broke ranks with Mr Sunak when he called for a ceasefire in Gaza.
The former Foreign Office diplomat said he could no longer support the Government’s line on the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Mr Logan claimed Israel’s military response to the 7 October terror attacks had ‘gone too far’ and was ‘disproportionate’.
Announcing his defection this evening, he told BBC News: ‘It’s more about not the push factor of Conservatives, but the pull factor of Keir Starmer.
‘The new Cabinet that would come in, the fresh faces, the fresh ideas.’
Mr Logan admitted he had been thinking about backing Labour ‘for quite a long period’.
But he said only now he had left the House of Commons was it the right time to announce his defection.
‘The electorate did vote me in as a Conservative MP,’ he said.
Mr Logan added: ‘When I look back to my teenage years, in 1997 when Labour came to the fore at that time and we obviously heard the song ‘Things Can Only Get Better’, I feel that we’re at that point again in British politics and British history.
‘For my constituents and for the country, it’s right that we get some stability back into the UK, we get optimism, we get new and fresh ideas.’
He added: ‘I believe as a politician it’s incumbent upon me to be able to say, to look people in the eyes in Bolton and say that I believe that a Labour government is going to serve you better, your interests better, it’s going to be better for your pockets, it’s better for the economy, it’s going to be better for the UK.’
Mr Logan’s decision to back Labour follows the defection of MPs Dan Poulter and Natalie Elphicke from the Tories to Sir Keir’s party in recent weeks.
Mr Sunak also saw ex-Tory deputy chairman Lee Anderson join Reform UK in March.
In a statement he posted to social media, Mr Logan wrote: ‘After much soul-searching throughout my first term in Parliament, brought to a head with the calling of a snap election last week, I have concluded that we need a new government.
‘And I believe the UK will be best served with that government being a Labour government.
‘We need renewed enthusiasm and optimism in both tone and in policy, and I believe that we are already seeing this through Keir Starmer and the team.
‘I am resigning from the Conservative Party with immediate effect. Regrettably, I will therefore not contest our constituency at the upcoming general election.’
He added: ‘The first time I voted, I voted for Labour. The next time I vote it will be a vote for Labour.’
