The Conservative MP for Bury South Christian Wakeford has announced that he has defected to the Labour Party.
The MP who has been consistently critical of the Prime Minister and who last night announced that he had put in a letter of no confidence in the Prime Minister walked across the floor of the House of commons to cheers from the Labour benches and opted to sit on the second row behind Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer.
In a letter to the Prime Minister Wakeford said that his defection to Labour is about much more than the prime minister’s “leadership and the disgraceful way you have conducted yourself in recent weeks”.
He says Britain needs a government focused on tackling the cost of living crisis and providing a path out of the pandemic that protects living standards and defends the security of all.
He says: “It needs a government that upholds the highest standards of integrity and probity in public life and sadly both you and the Conservative Party as a whole have shown themselves incapable of offering the leadership and government this country deserves.”
Kier Starmer welcomed the new member to his party.
The Labour leader said:
“I would like to welcome Christian to the Labour Party. He has always put the people of Burt South first.As Christian said, the policies of the Conservative govt are doing nothing to help the people of Bury South and indeed are only making the struggles they face worse.”
while the Prime Minister reminded the Commons that the Conservatives won the seat in the election of 2019 and would win it at the next one
In a racous session, Tory MP and former minister David Davis urged Boris Johnson to go.
“I expect my leaders to shoulder the responsibility for the actions they take. Yesterday he did the opposite of that.” and concluded: “in the name of God go”. while Labour MP Diana Johnson delivered one of the most scathing questions:
When the prime minister has to spend his time trying to convince the British public that he is stupid not dishonest isn’t it time for him to go?
More follows……
