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Former Tory MP to support Starmer at election

(Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)

Another day, another defection. This time it’s Mark Logan, now former Conservative MP for Bolton North East, who has announced he will be backing Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party at the general election. It’s yet another blow for poor Rishi Sunak who is already facing an exodus of 78 MPs while the Tories remain 20 points behind Starmer’s army in the polls.

Steerpike would point out that Logan’s excruciatingly small majority of, er, just 378 in 2019 made his one of the most marginal seats in the country — and he would be unlikely to win it back even if he did remain a true blue. On his reasons for switching sides, the Bolton MP told the BBC today that he firmly believes Starmer’s lefty lot had been on a ‘journey’ and now offered ‘centrist politics’, adding that the Labour party has the ability to ‘bring back optimism into British life’.

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Steerpike

Steerpike is The Spectator's gossip columnist, serving up the latest tittle tattle from Westminster and beyond. Email tips to steerpike@spectator.co.uk or message @MrSteerpike

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