Has Keir Starmer made a tactical mistake by recruiting the Tory MP Natalie Elphicke as his latest Starmtrooper? That’s the question being asked in Westminster after the Labour leader unveiled the Tory defector as a Labour MP just before Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday. The Dover MP crossed the floor using a statement to say that the Tories had become a ‘byword for incompetence and division’. Starmer meanwhile spoke of his delight, arguing that it shows Labour is now ‘the party of the national interest’. A photo of the duo was put out with the pair all smiles. The defection is less than a fortnight after Labour celebrated Dan Poulter turning his back on the Conservatives.
In both instances, Tory MPs were quick to see red and criticise their former colleagues. As one Tory MP said to me of Elphicke’s defection: ‘It would have made more sense if she went to Reform.
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