Tory MP Natalie Elphicke defects to Labour

Shortly before Prime Minister’s Questions today, Labour dropped a bombshell. Natalie Elphicke, one of the most hawkish Tory MPs on migration, has defected to Sir Keir Starmer’s party. Elphicke, who has sat for Dover and Deal since 2019, said in a statement that she was switching parties because of how much the political landscape had shifted over the past five years. Under the Conservatives, she said, ‘the centre ground has been abandoned and key pledges of the 2019 manifesto have been ditched’. Labour, by contrast, ‘has moved on from Jeremy Corbyn and now, under Keir Starmer, occupies the centre ground of British politics.’

Elphicke’s 500-word statement attacked the ‘broken promises of Rishi Sunak’s tired and chaotic government’ and spoke at length of the ‘huge rise in homelessness’ in recent years. In a likely sign of her future role within the party, she said: ‘I’m honoured to have been asked to work with Keir and the team to help deliver the homes we need.’