The Conservative Party lost one of its newest MPs today as Christian Wakeford sensationally announced he was defecting to Labour just moments before Prime Minister's Questions.
The Bury South MP told Boris Johnson that he and his party had "shown themselves incapable of offering the leadership and government this country deserves”.
Mr Wakeford won the seat in 2019.
The Greater Manchester constituency, which had voted Labour for more than 20 years, was one of several 'Red Wall' seats to fall to the Tories at the last election.
The MP had been one of seven Tory MPs to publicly call for Mr Johnson to quit following allegations of rule breaking in Downing Street during the coronavirus lockdown.
As he entered the House of Commons today, Mr Wakeford took his seat on the opposition benches to a chorus of cheers from Labour MPs.
His decision to 'cross the floor', a phrase used when an MP defects to another party, has led to calls for him to trigger a by-election in Bury South.
But what happens when an MP defects? And is a by-election necessary?
MPs who want to switch will typically tell their party leader, but there is currently no formal process for changing parties.
They can then carry on being an MP and a by-election does not need to take place.
This is because voters put a ‘cross against the name of a candidate', rather than a party, according to the Commons.
Asked whether there should be a by-election now that Mr Wakeford has defected to Labour, the Prime Minister’s press secretary said: “I think that that is up to the constituents of Bury South.”
There may well be further calls for a by-election over Mr Wakeford's decision, which could anger Tory voters who still want a Conservative representative to hold the seat.
But Mr Wakeford only held a slim majority of just 402 votes.
A Tory MP has not defected to Labour since 2007 when Quentin Davies crossed the floor.
In 2019, a number of MPs defected over the ongoing Brexit negotiations.
Eleven British MPs defected from both the Conservative and Labour parties to form the centrist Change UK party.
