Ex-Tory MP Natalie Elphicke’s defection to Labour today has raised several eyebrows – not least because of her own, deeply divisive, voting record.
While she will still be standing down at the next general election, the move has triggered an intense reaction.
The second Tory to cross the floor in less than two weeks, Elphicke accused PM Rishi Sunak of “failing to keep our borders safe” and of “incompetence and division”.
However, the now-Labour MP for Dover has been accused of stoking division herself since she was elected in 2019 – and social media was not going to let her forget that today.
People pulled up articles she has written in the past, such as one from 2022 for The Mail on Sunday titled: “When will the Left admit this is no refugee crisis...but simply illegal immigration.”
Another for the Express, published in April 2023, said: “Don’t trust Labour on immigration, they really want open borders.”
Her claim that migrants use razor blades to cut fingers and avoid identification also resurfaced.
The Sunday Times’ Gabriel Pogrund posted a thread on X (formerly Twitter) explaining how Elphicke reacted after her now ex-husband – ex-MP Charlie Elphicke – was convicted as a sex offender.
Others recalled her spat with footballer Marcus Rashford, when the MP suggested he should stop “playing politics” after he missed a penalty at the Euro 2020 final.
It came after Rashford’s campaign to offer free school meals forced Boris Johnson to U-turn.
Elphicke did later apologise for these comments.
Elphicke also caused a stir in 2022 when she said she was heckled by “hard-left militants” at a demonstration against mass firings at P&O ferries.
According to the website, They Work For You, she has “consistently voted against laws to promote equality and human rights”, against “measures to prevent climate change” and against “improving air quality”.
She has also voted against “fewer obstacles for access to abortion” and for a stricter asylum system.
She has also been a keen advocate of the Rwanda Act – which Labour says it will repeal if it gets into office.
There were also plenty of posts simply expressing dismay at her defection...