Labour rinsed with defection memes as Keir Starmer welcomes another Tory to his party | indy100

Keir Starmer refuses to comment on Natalie Elphicke's remarks about husband's victims

Labour Party and ITV News

Sir Keir Starmer has been met with renewed criticism from the left this week, after he saw a third Conservative MP - Natalie Elphicke - abandon Rishi Sunak’s party and cross the floor of the Commons to join his “changed” Labour Party.

The Dover MP defected just before Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, and the move has sparked consternation on social media, with users bringing up Elphicke’s past controversies.

She’s previously made headlines for criticising Marcus Rashford’s campaigning on free school meals, and using Commons stationery to write to judges overseeing her ex-husband’s sentencing appeal for three sexual assault convictions (a code of conduct breach which saw Elphicke handed a one-day suspension).

Her becoming the next Labour MP – although she will stand down at the next general election – comes just 11 days after Central Suffolk and North Ipswich MP Dr Dan Poulter, another Conservative, defected to Starmer’s party and claimed the Tories have become a “nationalist party of the right”.

The first Tory-to-Labour defection happened back in 2022, when Bury South MP Christian Wakeford decided “the best interests of my constituents are served by the programme put forward by Keir Starmer and his party”.

But the fact that Labour has now become an appealing party to former Tories has alarmed left-wingers, who have since taken to Twitter/X to create their own fake announcements of defectors who could also be welcomed into Labour:

Welcome, Sheev Palpatine, the new Labour MP for Naboo.
— (@)

Keir Starmer cheerily welcoming the ghost of Margaret Thatcher to the Labour Party earlier\u2026
— (@)

I'd like to cordially welcome our new Labour MP to the party.
— (@)

None
— (@)

It's a big tent and you're not in it
— (@)

These Labour Defections are taking the Piss now
— (@)

— (@)

— (@)

When asked about Elphicke’s previous comments and actions by ITV News, and whether this is a person who “shares Labour values”, Starmer refused to comment and instead said he was “delighted” to welcome the Dover MP to his party as a politician with “a strong track record on issues such as housing”.

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