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https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/natalie-elphicke-labour-defection-leaflets-b2542103.html

Natalie Elphicke sent leaflet attacking Labour a day before defecting to join the party


The right-wing former Tory said on Tuesday Sir Keir Starmer had ‘no plan’ and would ‘take Britain back to square one’

Archie Mitchell


Natalie Elphicke sent out a leaflet attacking the Labour Party just a day before defecting to become a Labour MP.

The right-wing former Tory, who crossed the floor on Wednesday, said on Tuesday Sir Keir Starmer had “no plan” and would “take Britain back to square one”.


In a message paid for by the Conservative Party, Ms Elphicke criticised Labour’s stance on the economy, taxes, immigration, net zero and apprenticeships.


The leaflet, seen by The Times, said Labour supports uncontrolled immigration while the Conservatives were taking action to stop the boats.


But, in a statement issued as she defected, Ms Elphicke said: “From small boats to biosecurity, Rishi Sunak’s government is failing to keep our borders safe and secure.

“Lives are being lost in the English Channel while small boat arrivals are once again at record levels. It’s clear they have failed to keep our borders secure and cannot be trusted.”

She added: “We need to move on from the broken promises of Rishi Sunak’s tired and chaotic Government.”


Her defection shocked Westminster, with only a handful of figures at the top of the Labour Party aware of the plans ahead of the move. She was seen as a right-winger even on the Tory benches, and Labour MPs questioned Sir Keir’s decision to welcome her to the party.

Her defection also raised questions about Sir Keir’s commitment to tackling violence against women and girls, which he has made a central part of his pitch as Labour leader.

After her ex-husband Charlie Elphicke was found guilty of three counts of sexual assault against two women, the new Labour MP for Dover said he had been punished for being “attractive” and being “attracted to women”.

Ms Elphicke was also temporarily suspended from the Commons in 2021 for trying to influence his trial and was forced to apologise.

Charlotte Cornell, a Labour councillor who ran against Ms Elphicke in Dover in 2019, told The Independent: “Her comments minimised what was predatory behaviour and sexual abuse.”

Labour Party chairman Anneliese Dodds said Ms Elphicke has already been made accountable for past comments defending her ex husband after he was convicted for sexual assault.

Ms Dodds told Times Radio: “Of course, this is an incredibly serious issue and there was a judicial process, quite rightly, around that sexual assault.

"There was accountability for Natalie Elphicke in the fact that there was a parliamentary process around this.

"Now, it’s quite right that there was a parliamentary process, as I say Natalie Elphicke has gone through that, and I believe that she has addressed this in Parliament and in public, and rightly so, because this is a very serious subject."

Education secretary Gillian Keegan said Ms Elphicke was a "very odd fit" for the Labour Party considering her views on immigration

She told LBC: “Her principles and her policies, and her positions, have changed as often as Keir Starmer’s.

"I don’t really know her, she’s much more on the right of the party. I think somebody said they couldn’t find anyone more right-wing than Natalie Elphicke.

"So, I don’t really know her very well but clearly she has had a massive 180 degree change in some of her views miraculously, I guess overnight, and I’m not 100% sure how you can change your views and principles that quickly."

In 2022 Natalie Elphicke used a debate on P&O sacking 800 workers & replacing them with cheaper foreign workers as an opportunity to attack trade unions.

She's just become a Labour MP.pic.twitter.com/aDabifeeHm

— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) May 8, 2024

Of course Anneliese Dodds thinks it's preposterous that Natalie Elphicke, one of the most right-wing Tories, has defected to Labour.

Here is the problem when your party is led by a dishonest man.

The dishonesty is infectious. You all become dishonest as a price of loyalty. https://t.co/AmVzA29oK2

— Owen Jones (@OwenJones84) May 9, 2024