The Labour party should be “less tribal” and be open to “reasonably minded people, whichever way they voted in the past”, Keir Starmer has said.
He welcomed Labour’s newest MP, Natalie Elphicke, at a speech in Dover and said her defection was proof that the party was building a broad range of support.
The Labour leader said Elphicke’s move was “an invitation that we should be less tribal in the pursuit of a better country and invite people to our party who want to join in our object of national renewal”.
Starmer was speaking in Elphicke’s constituency to announce his plan to scrap the Rwanda deportation scheme and replace it with a new specialised border security unit.
Asked where he would draw the line with rightwing politicians and whether he would welcome Nigel Farage into Labour, he said he wanted to “bring as many people with us as possible” but added that Farage was “the last person who would want to join this Labour party”.
“I’m sure there are many other Tory MPs who are feeling defeated by this government,” he said.
Starmer’s comments came after Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, said he had spoken to more Conservative MPs who were considering crossing the floor, but insisted the party would not accept just any politician.
Streeting said Elphicke had switched sides “with a purpose” and “not out of personal ambition”, defending the move amid a backlash from some Labour MPs.
Referring to Elphicke’s defection and that of the former Tory MP Dan Poulter in an interview with the Independent, Streeting said: “I think in Dan’s case, as a doctor in the NHS, who has come to the unequivocal conclusion only Labour can be trusted to sort the NHS out, [and] Natalie Elphicke, who is with her community seeing the consequences of what happens when immigration goes poorly managed …
“I think they are very powerful message-carriers, but they have defected with a purpose, not out of personal ambition, and I think people should take that message really seriously.”
Streeting said he had spoken to more Tory MPs considering a move because of the “division and incompetence” of Rishi Sunak’s government.
However, he stressed there were limits, saying: “If Liz Truss were to want to cross the floor, and I don’t imagine she would, I would rather take the lettuce.”
Labour MPs have criticised the decision to admit Elphicke to the party, citing her hardline views on immigration and her previous support of her ex-husband after he was found guilty of sexually assaulting two women.
The Dover MP apologised on Thursday for claiming, after Charlie Elphicke’s 2020 conviction, that he was “attractive, and attracted to women” and “an easy target for dirty politics and false allegations”.
She said: “The period of 2017 to 2020 was an incredibly stressful and difficult one for me as I learned more about the person I thought I knew. I know it was far harder for the women who had to relive their experiences and give evidence against him.”
On Friday, the shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, welcomed Elphicke’s defection and accepted the apology of the Dover MP. Cooper told Times Radio: “We welcome people coming to join the Labour party and changing their views on issues. We hope this will happen across the country.”
She added: “Natalie Elphicke has rightly apologised for the things that she has said and she has also condemned the behaviour of her ex-husband, both towards other women and towards her.”
Meanwhile, the Telegraph reported that Labour’s deputy leader, Angela Rayner, had told backbenchers at an internal parliamentary committee meeting that Elphicke would have no “formal role” in the party after the backlash.
A source told the Telegraph: “The key point was that [Rayner] clarified Natalie will have no formal role beyond being just a backbencher.”
The decision was another blow to Sunak, coming shortly after Poulter’s defection and local election results last week that painted a dismal picture for the Conservatives.
Announcing her decision to switch parties, Elphicke hit out at Sunak’s “tired and chaotic government” and accused him of failing to deliver on his promise to “stop the boats”, adding that Labour would “bring a much better future for our country”.
Downing Street, meanwhile, has pointed out Elphicke’s repeated attacks on Labour’s immigration policy, and the foreign secretary, David Cameron, said her defection showed the opposition stood for nothing.
The subhead and footnote of the graphic were amended on 10 May 2024 to better reflect the chart. It shows the level of the overall Tory majority and not the number of Conservative MPs required for an overall majority as an earlier version said.
