On the whiteboard in Christian Wakeford’s Westminster office there is a to-do list detailing everything he needs to achieve in the week ahead. Alongside the domestic (laundry) and the aspirational (secure a Westminster Hall debate on pure maths), one entry stands out: “Learn words to Red Flag.”
On 19 January, Wakeford delivered a dramatic shock to Boris Johnson’s government. By walking into prime minister’s questions in a union jack face mask and taking a seat behind Keir Starmer, he became the first Tory MP for 15 years to switch to Labour. It was a moment that blindsided even his closest friends in the Conservative party. To leave the governing party for the opposition was a particularly bold move: the last two Tory defectors, Quentin Davies in 2007 and Shaun Woodward in 1999, both joined Labour when it was in power.
