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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Toby Helm Political editor

Top Tory MP defects to Labour in fury at NHS crisis

Dan Poulter, sitting at a table with two red Labour mugs on it, signs a form as Ellie Reeves watches
Dr Dan Poulter signing his Labour membership form with Ellie Reeves MP, Labour’s deputy national campaign coordinator on Saturday. Photograph: Labour Party

A Tory MP and former health minister has staged a dramatic defection to Labour, saying the Conservatives have become a “nationalist party of the right” that has abandoned ­compassion and no longer prioritises the NHS.

Dr Dan Poulter, the MP for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich, who works part-time as a mental health doctor in an NHS hospital, announced he was resigning as a Tory MP and would be taking the Labour whip until the next election in an exclusive interview with the Observer.

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