The Conservative MP Natalie Elphicke has left the party to join the Labour Party, claiming that the Conservatives “have become a byword for incompetence and division”.

The MP for Dover stated that border security and housing were the main considerations in her choice in a statement that was made just before PMQs began.

She charged Rishi Sunak of “broken promises” and reneging on important commitments.

In less than two weeks, Rishi Sunak has defected to Labour twice, following Dan Poulter’s departure from the Conservatives.

At the next general election, Labour will continue to field the same candidate in Dover and Deal, and Mrs. Elphicke will resign.

Natalie Elphicke

After boundary revisions, the seat takes the position of Dover, where Mrs. Elphicke won a majority of 12,278 votes in the last election.

Others Tory MPs expressed astonishment, noting that Mrs. Elphicke had been on the right wing of their party. Huw Merriman, the minister of transportation for the Conservative Party, called Mrs. Elphicke “opportunistic” and said he was “absolutely staggered” by her leaving.

Prime Minister’s Questions in the Commons opened with dramatic scenes as Mrs. Elphicke crossed the floor to take a seat behind Sir Keir Starmer, the leader of Labour.

Many on the Conservative benches were confused and bemused.

Since the announcement of the news came just after noon, many Tory MPs were unaware that their erstwhile colleague was suddenly seated across from them, right behind Sir Keir and so in the camera shot during his speech, instead of beside them.

Sir Keir asked Mr. Sunak

“What is the point of this failed government staggering on?” Sir Keir asked Mr. Sunak upon her arrival, referring to the fact that “the Tory MP for Dover, on the front line of the small boats crisis, says the prime minister cannot be trusted with our borders and joins Labour.”

Many people who travel across the Channel in small boats arrive at Dover.

Despite tiny boat arrivals “at record levels” and lives lost in the Channel, Mrs. Elphicke said that Mr. Sunak’s government “is failing to keep our borders safe and secure” in her statement.

In an Express piece published in April of last year, Mrs. Elphicke stated that the government’s plan for Rwanda was “world-leading” and that Labour had “no plan of their own to tackle illegal immigration”.

More recently, though, she expressed concern that laws intended to revive the scheme would not be sufficient to prevent small boat crossings and proposed that a returns agreement with France would be more beneficial.

When asked if she had altered her opinion about Labour’s immigration policies, Mrs. Elphicke responded that Labour will deal with the matter and that Mr. Sunak had not prevented small boat crossings.

Natalie Elphicke

She was not promised a peerage to defect, as both the MP and Labour insisted, but she would receive an unpaid position as a Labour advisor to the party on housing issues.

Labour disputed the allegations made by numerous sources that its whips, who are in charge of maintaining discipline, voiced reservations over Mrs. Elphicke’s admission to the party.

Mrs. Elphicke, he said, needed to determine if she was “committed to the programme and principles of the Labour Party”.

After her disgraced ex-husband Charlie Elphicke lost his seat in Dover in 2019, Mrs. Elphicke was elected.

Some on the left of his party have criticized Sir Keir for welcoming her to Labour, especially when Jeremy Corbyn and Diane Abbott are still suspended from the Parliamentary Labour Party.

Momentum, a left-wing advocacy group, declared: “This hard-right Tory has no place in a Labour Party that is worthy of the name.

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Keir Starmer

“It speaks volumes about Keir Starmer that he is welcoming her with open arms, while leaving Diane Abbott out in the cold.”

Regarding housing, Mrs. Elphicke stated that the government had “betrayed” tenants and leaseholders by not keeping its word to halt no-fault evictions and do away with ground rents, adding that it was “failing to build the homes we need.”

“When I was elected in 2019, the Conservative Party occupied the centre ground of British politics,” she stated.

Numerous things have changed since then. The unelected Rishi Sunak organized a coup that resulted in the removal of the elected prime minister, Boris Johnson.

Rishi Sunak

“Under Rishi Sunak, the Conservatives have turned into a symbol of discord and incompetence. Key promises of the 2019 manifesto have been dropped, and the center ground has been abandoned.”

In contrast, she claimed that Labour has “changed out of all recognition” since 2019 and that it currently “occupies the centre ground of British politics”.
She continued by saying the party’s economic and defense policies “are responsible and can be trusted” and that it had a “plan to build the homes we need”.