ONE Labour MP was reportedly left in tears following the news of Natalie Elphicke’s defection from the Tory party.

The MP for Dover quit the Conservative Party just moments before PMQs on Wednesday, hitting out at Rishi Sunak’s “tired and chaotic government” and accused the PM of failing to deliver on his promise to “stop the boats”.

Following the news, Stephen Flynn told Labour to “show some standards” while many Tories were also left bemused with Education Secretary Gillian Keegan (below) saying she was a “very odd fit” for Starmer’s party.

The National: Gillian Keegan thanked teachers for their work (Jonathan Brady/PA)

One Labour MP told the PA news agency: “I think it’s utterly disgraceful. She’s totally right-wing and supported her husband when he sexually assaulted women.

“There are Labour MPs still suspended and we’re welcoming MPs who have voted to push people into poverty. I despair.”

In 2021, Elphicke was suspended from the Commons for one day for trying to influence the judge in a case linked to her former partner Charlie Elphicke, who was found guilty on multiple counts of sexual assault.

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She ended the marriage after his conviction but supported his unsuccessful appeal, saying he had been “attractive, and attracted to women,” and an “easy target for dirty politics and false allegations”.

Another MP told the PA they had been left in tears by the news of the defection while former shadow minister for domestic violence said the new Labour MP should “account for her actions”.

She told ITV’s Peston: “I’m all for forgiveness but I do think that that needs some explaining.”

Another backbencher told PA the decision wouldn’t comfort those questioning Starmer’s political judgement and that it showed “cack-handed party management skills”.

“They didn’t need to do this. Now they have a new Labour MP who, unless kept in a sealed room, will be a hostage to fortune between now and the General Election.

“Everything she says and writes will be scrutinised in detail. Did they really need to do this? The answer is clearly no.

“Ultimately, if this is the quality of their political decision-making, 20 points ahead and in opposition, then it’s not looking good when they’re in government and under pressure.”

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A year ago, Elphicke used a newspaper column to claim, “not only have Labour got no plan of their own to tackle illegal immigration, they simply do not want to” and said Starmer has “pledged to rip up our world-leading partnership to remove illegal migrants to Rwanda”.

Labour chair comments

Labour’s chairwoman Anneliese Dodds meanwhile has said she believes Elphicke is a good fit for the party and insisted “people can change their minds”.

“I can see that in her statement that what she set out is absolutely fundamental to the Labour Party … making sure that we have a country that is secure, making sure that we’re delivering on those issues of security, and also making sure we’re delivering on housing as well," she told BBC Breakfast. 

“People can change their minds and, as I said before, Natalie Elphicke is not the first Conservative MP to take this decision.”

She added: “Of course, they are just like the many Conservative voters – and indeed voters of other parties – who have realised that those parties cannot deliver on the issues that they care about, that they need instead to be backing a party that’s got a plan to deal with the cost-of-living crisis, to get our public services back off their knees and get them fit for the future.

“Natalie Elphicke is taking the same decision as so many other former Conservative supporters up and down the country, and I think it’s absolutely right that she’s done so because she’s clearly here putting her constituents in Dover first.”