Labour plots extra Tory defections as newest recruit slams PM’s failed management

Labour is talking to more Tory MPs who could defect after Natalie Elphicke dramatically switched sides yesterday.

In a shock move just minutes before Prime Minister’s Questions, the Dover MP crossed the floor to join Keir Starmer ’s party. It came only a fortnight after fellow Conservative Dr Dan Poulter made the jump.

Ms Elphicke blasted PM Rishi Sunak ’s “tired and chaotic government” as she argued that a general election “cannot come soon enough”. “Under Rishi Sunak, the Conservatives have become a byword for incompetence and ­division,” she added.

Welcoming Ms Elphicke, Mr Starmer asked Mr Sunak what is “the point of this failed Government staggering on… 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 on the front line of the small boats crisis says the Prime Minister cannot be trusted with our borders, and joins Labour”.

Backlash

The Mirror understands Mr Starmer’s team has already started speaking with other MPs who could make the jump. A Labour source said: “More conversations are taking place but there is still quite a way to go. If there are more defections, they won’t be imminent. It is not like we have got someone lined up for next week.”

Labour is expected to deploy Ms Elphicke and Dr Poulter during the campaign, by sending letters from them to swing voters in Tory seats asking them to back Mr Starmer. But the defection of Ms Elphicke yesterday led to a backlash from some.

After her then-husband Charlie Elphicke, a former MP, was convicted of sexually assaulting two women in 2020, she defended him, saying that he was “attractive, and attracted to, women”. It was also found she had attempted to influence the judge overseeing the case.

And when England’s Marcus Rashford missed a penalty in the Euro 2020 final, she said he should have “spent more time perfecting his game and less time playing politics” by campaigning for free school meals. Rachel Reeves said she should “f*** off”.

She has also criticised Labour’s immigration plans. In an article last year, she argued that “not only have Labour got no plan of their own to tackle illegal immigration, they simply do not want to”, dubbing Mr Starmer “Sir Softie”. Former Labour leader Neil Kinnock said that he was “encouraged” by Ms Elphicke’s decision but told the BBC : “We have got to be choosy to a degree about who we allow to join our party because it’s a very broad church but churches have walls and there are limits.”

Ms Elphicke, 53, yesterday warned that Mr Sunak’s Government is “failing to keep our borders safe and secure”. The politician, who previously worked in housing, added that the Tories are also “failing to build the homes we need”. She said under Mr Sunak, the party had “abandoned the centre ground and broken many election promises”. And she said under Mr Starmer “Labour have changed” and is “going to bring a much better future for our country”.

Ms Elphicke also follows Bury South MP Christian Wakeford in switching to Labour. He defected in 2022. Kevin Mills, the Labour leader of Dover District Council, welcomed her move but added: “I’d be a liar to say there is not a degree of scepticism.” Mish Rahman, a member of Labour’s National Executive Committee, put it more bluntly, describing the welcome as “an absolute disgrace and a new low for Starmer”.

Former Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell said: “I’m a great believer in the powers of conversion but I think even this one would have strained the generosity of spirit of John the Baptist, quite honestly.” Jenny Symmons, the chair of the GMB branch for MPs’ staff, wrote to Labour’s chief whip to request a meeting on the vetting of people who want to be Labour MPs. Ms Elphicke is standing down at the general ­election but could take on an unpaid role working with Labour. Mike Tapp, Labour’s candidate for the new seat of Dover and Deal, said last night: “No one is happier than me when someone is persuaded to come over to the Labour cause.”