In the past few minutes Boris Johnson’s Red Wall has started to crumble in a more dramatic way than he thought possible. Christian Wakeford, the Conservative MP for Bury South, is defecting to the Labour party, having previously submitted a vote a letter calling for a vote of no confidence in the Prime Minister.
Wakeford has been conspicuously unhappy with the leadership of his party for some time: he famously called Owen Paterson a c*** in the voting lobbies during the attempts to help him evade the standards regime that started the turmoil around Boris Johnson.
This is the worst possible timing for Johnson
This is the worst possible timing for Johnson as he is currently backstage in the House of Commons preparing for what was already going to be a bruising session at Prime Minister’s Questions. Wakeford had been in talks with Keir Starmer and his team for a number of months which means the Labour leader has had plenty of preparation for this session.
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in