Bury South MP Christian Wakeford has officially defected to Labour in protest against Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Mr Wakeford was elected to his constituency in 2019 under the Conservative Party - but in recent weeks he has become more openly critical of his former party's leader.
He was among a group of MPs who called for Boris Johnson to quit due to a series of Downing Street parties that took place during lockdown.
Read more:
He branded the scandal as 'embarrassing' last week and described the Prime Minister's conduct as 'disgraceful' in an open letter.
It has now been announced this morning (January 19) via the Labour Party's Twitter account that he will be joining them.
He added: "I am in no doubt that [Bury South] will be better served by my joining a party that genuinely has their interests at heart."
The tweet read: "A very warm welcome to Christian Wakeford MP! The new Labour MP for Bury South."
Who is Christian Wakeford?
Christian Wakeford originally started his career after earning a degree in Politics at Lancaster University.
Afterwards, he held a number of public office roles - from 2009 to 2017, he was a Local Education Authority governor for Colne Park High School.
He has also held a seat at Lancashire County Council as a Conservative councillor for Pendle Hill.
Mr Wakeford also spent a year from 2015 to 2016 as a caseworker for Conservative MP for Pendle Andrew Stephenson.
Prior to being elected as an MP in December 2019, he was also the leader of the Conservative Group on Pendle Borough Council.
What is Christian Wakeford's voting history?
Despite holding a seat in Parliament for only a few years, Mr Wakeford has been involved in a number of major voting events.
He has consistently voted against measures to prevent climate change - on February 5, 2020, he voted against calling on the government to develop and implement a plan to eliminate the majority of transport emissions by 2030.
Mr Wakeford also voted against a new Clause in the Agriculture Bill which would have required ministers to have due regard to the target of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2020.
When it comes to Constitutional Reform, Mr Wakeford voted against having fewer MPs in the House of Commons and a more proportional system for electing MPs.
But he voted in favour of having an equal number of electors per constituency.
He also voted against the Proper Funding of Public Services which aimed to tackle tax avoidance and evasion.
Like many MPs, Mr Wakeford's votes are in-line with the majority of his former Party's policy.
