Natalie Elphicke, the MP for Dover and Deal, defects from the Conservatives to Labour as Prime Minister's Questions begins in the Commons
"Under Rishi Sunak, the Conservatives have become a byword for incompetence and division," she says in a statement released at midday
"From small boats to biosecurity, Rishi Sunak’s government is failing to keep our borders safe and secure," she adds
In the Commons, Starmer asks Sunak: "What's the point of this failed government staggering on?"
But the Conservatives have highlighted past comments from Elphicke - including an article she wrote headlined "don't trust Labour on immigration"
"Even Labour MPs know you can't trust Labour to stop the boats," the Conservatives say on X
Nadia Ragozhina
Live editor
We're wrapping up our coverage of today's developments in Westminster.
If you'd like to read the full story of Natalie Elphicke's defection to Labour, you can do so here.
And if you'd like to know more about who exactly Natalie Elphicke is and what has caused her to defect, click here.
Here's what happened:
And one final reaction to bring you on Natalie Elphicke's defection, as we prepare to wrap up our coverage of the day.
Mike Tapp, the Labour candidate for Dover and Deal, says locals are "fed up" of Rishi Sunak's "gimmicks" and "Natalie has realised that".
Speaking to BBC Radio Kent, Tapp says Natalie Elphicke has "seen the light and come over to the Labour Party".
"I absolutely support the defection. I think it sends a really clear message that Rishi Sunak and this Conservative government has completely failed to secure the borders," he says.
When pressed on whether he backs Natalie Elphicke, Tapp says he'll "work closely" with her.
Tory MP Robert Jenrick says Natalie Elphicke's defection to Labour is an "idiotic decision".
Speaking to BBC Radio 4's PM programme, Jenrick says she has "joined a party that stands for all the things she despises".
He recalls Elphicke previously telling him she was "concerned and fearful" at Labour's "open borders policy" when it comes to migration.
Labour's five-point plan on immigration would see the end to the government's Rwanda scheme, alongside greater co-operation, and a returns agreement, with the EU.
Jenrick - who previously served as immigration minister - says he doesn't believe the government's current policy on the matter is "robust enough", but doesn't think Elphicke's move to Labour will serve her or her constituents well on that front.
Let's take you back to PMQs for a moment, where earlier today Rishi Sunak defended his record on small boats crossings and claimed that, since he became prime minister, the government “deported 24,000 people”.
But official figures do not show this.
The Home Office publishes figures for “enforced returns”, external which includes people who have been deported and those who have violated UK immigration laws but refused to leave voluntarily.
These show, external a total of 9,210 people were removed between 1 November 2022 (Sunak became PM on 25 October of that year) and 14 April 2024.
In this same period, a total 27,513 people left the UK voluntarily.
We contacted No 10 and they said Sunak meant to say “removed” rather than “deported”.
This was the moment, just before Prime Minister's Questions, that Natalie Elphicke took her place on the Labour benches in the House of Commons.
Watch: Natalie Elphicke takes seat on Labour benches
Leila Nathoo
Political correspondent
Chatting to Labour MPs around Parliament this afternoon, some are definitely ‘queasy’ - as one put it - about acquiring a new colleague in Natalie Elphicke. They're not willing to speak about it publicly though.
Some are baffled by her decision but are happy to bank the dramatic moment and sense of momentum it provides the Labour Party - also pointing to the fact that she’ll be standing down come the general election anyway.
But there are those on the left of the party who've long been critical of Keir Starmer and the direction he's steered Labour in.
They are are questioning why he's happy to have Natalie Elphicke as a Labour MP and not for example, Diane Abbott - who is waiting to hear if she will be re admitted to the parliamentary party over a letter she wrote to a newspaper.
Jennifer McKiernan
Political reporter
Natalie Elphicke has repeatedly criticised Labour for being soft on migration and untrustworthy on Brexit and the economy.
With her constituency covering the UK's main port of Dover, Elphicke has been vocal about border security and regularly called for more hardline immigration policies.
Writing in the Daily Express in April last year, she accused Labour of wanting open borders and claimed their plans were "dangerous".
But she has called for a deal to return immigrants crossing the Channel in small boats to France rather than the Rwanda plan, which is in line with Labour's policy.
She has also called for a rent freeze - a popular policy on the Labour left - and was behind a cross-party project to build houses for homeless people.
Elphicke's defection from the Tory party to Labour is momentous, but not unprecedented.
Let's take a look at some of the defections that took place during this Parliament alone, so that's since December 2019.
Back in April, former Tory MP Dr Dan Poulter announced he would leave Rishi Sunak's party and join Labour, saying he could not look his NHS colleagues and patients in the eye as a Conservative.
Poulter has the Labour whip until the general election, but he will not be seeking re-election.
Before him, Ashfield MP Lee Anderson defected to Reform UK after he was stripped of the Tory whip over comments he made towards London Mayor Sadiq Khan.
In October 2023, East Kilbride MP Lisa Cameron left the Scottish National Party (SNP) to join Conservatives.
North West Leicestershire MP Andrew Bridgen was expelled from the Tory party, then sat as an independent MP, later went on to join Laurence Fox's Reclaim party. This lasted eight months, until Bridgen left Reclaim to continue sitting in Parliament as an independent MP.
And Christian Wakeford, MP for Bury South, left the Tory party and went on to sit as a Labour MP in January 2022.
Leila Nathoo
Political correspondent
This is the second defection from the Conservative party in less than two weeks. Natalie Elphicke is to the right of the Conservative party, and on the surface she does not seem like a natural fit for Keir Starmer's Labour party.
Conservative MPs I have been speaking to this afternoon have been pretty incredulous.
It is important to note that Natalie Elphicke has said she is going to stand down at the next election, so she won't be fighting that seat for the Labour party.
But she seems to have tried to inflict maximum damage on the prime minister with this defection. It felt quite personal.
This won't do much for morale in the Conservative party after the heavy local election losses.
We've had lots of reaction coming in following Natalie Elphicke's surprise defection to the Labour Party. Here's some of what we've heard:
We're getting more reaction from Dover District Council, after Dover MP Natalie Elphicke announced her defection to the Labour Party.
Conservative Councillor Oliver Richardson tells the PA news agency that Elphicke has "let us down" and is "a complete turncoat".
Meanwhile, Labour Councillor Gordon Cowan says "it was her choice, she decided to cross the floor".
Cowan - who also chairs the council - says his focus will be on backing Labour's candidate at the next election, Mike Tapp, but he adds it is "always a good sign that people want to join Labour".
More from a Labour Party spokesman now on Natalie Elphicke's defection from the Conservatives.
Pressed on whether all Labour MPs are happy with her joining the party, he says "it's a sign of the progress that we've made".
"People recognise that on some of the key challenges facing the country, the Tories have failed", he says, adding that Elphicke is "someone who is willing to make the significant step of switching across to Keir Starmer's changed Labour Party".
"That's something we're very happy to see", he says.
Labour has defended its welcoming of Natalie Elphicke, despite previous criticism the Dover MP has faced.
In 2021, Elphicke and four of her colleagues were found to have breached the code of conduct over an attempt to influence judges in a case involving her ex-husband, and former MP, Charlie Elphicke, who was convicted and jailed for sex offences.
A Labour spokesman says "all of those issues have been dealt with previously, both in Parliament and in public."
He is also asked about Elphicke previously saying her ex-husband was punished for being "attractive and attracted to" women.
"Natalie can speak to her own remarks on that and she has spoken extensively about that case", he says, "I don't have anything to add to what she has said on that subject."
Speaking during PMQs earlier today, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer claimed there had been 2,400 small boat crossings since Rishi Sunak held a press conference heralding the passing of the Rwanda Bill through the House of Commons.
Since that conference on 22 April, official figures show 2,409 people have been detected crossing the Channel, external in small boats - up to 6 May. So Starmer is right.
In the exchange over small boat crossings, Rishi Sunak said that since he had become prime minister, small boat crossings were "down by a third".
That’s pretty much right – if you compare the number of people detected crossing in small boats in the 561 days that he has been in office, it’s 30% lower than the previous 561 days.
Angela Richardson, deputy chair of the Conservative Party, has been telling the BBC's World at One programme she thinks the people of Dover and Deal will be "sorry" and "disappointed" that their MP, Natalie Elphicke, has defected to Labour.
They've felt the impact of illegal immigration and small boat arrivals, she says.
Richardson goes on to say more about the reaction of Conservative MPs.
"I was sat next to Jacob Rees-Mogg on the benches, and he said: 'Natalie is even to the right of me'. I am not sure they're going to be happy bedfellows," Richardson continues.
"Labour has just got its first member of the ERG," she says, referring to the Brexit-backing European Research Group of Conservative MPs.
"It is quite extraordinary so there is a level of bemusement," she adds.
The BBC's Adam Fleming and Chris Mason sprung into action to record an emergency, breaking news, episode of Newscast to react to Natalie Elphicke's defection from the Tory party to join Labour.
Adam and Chris discuss the shocking defection, Elphicke’s track-record as an MP for Dover and Deal to date, and the response so far from MPs across the political spectrum.
You can listen to it here.
Natalie Elphicke has not been shy about criticising the Labour Party in the past, and her former party has been quick to dig out the receipts.
Posting on X (formerly Twitter), the Conservative Party account posted a screenshot of an article Elphicke penned in April last year for the Daily Express, headlined: Don't trust Labour on immigration they really want open borders.
Elphicke's electorate of Dover and Deal is the entry point for many small boat arrivals.
A year ago Elphicke was warning against trusting the Labour party to reduce the number of small boat crossings, today she has defected, saying it's Rishi Sunak's government that cannot be trusted on the matter.
Image source, XThe tweet from the Conservatives
Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent
Sir Keir Starmer is jubilant at Natalie Elphicke’s shock defection. It enables him to make a direct argument to "big C" Conservatives that if an MP as "small c" conservative as Elphicke is moving to Labour, so they should too.
That’s exactly what is worrying some Labour MPs in private.
The two previous defections direct from the Conservatives — Christian Wakeford and Dan Poulter — were widely welcomed: Wakeford was disillusioned with Boris Johnson; Labour MPs liked that Poulter defected specifically on the issue of the NHS.
Elphicke’s cause of immigration and asylum policy sits less easily with many Labour MPs — though it is worth noting that she also cited housing, where her views are much more in tune with the Labour mainstream.
Labour MPs are also asking questions about the circumstances in which Elphicke first got her seat in 2019.
She replaced her then-husband, Charlie Elphicke, after he was charged with sexual assault. He was later convicted and imprisoned, at which point she announced that their marriage was ending.
People from Natalie Elphicke's constituency in Dover have been speaking to the BBC's World at One programme on Radio 4 to share their views on her defection to Labour.
A woman says she is "gobsmacked" by Elphicke's move, and calls it is "rather disingenuous". She says Elphicke hasn't represented Dover, and calls the MP's views on immigration "appalling".
A man says that her defection to Labour was bound to happen as there are so many Tories trying to jump ship. "They need a place to go where they can still have a certain amount of power," he says.
Another woman says that Elphicke's defection doesn't surprise her at all. "Nobody cares about this part of Kent whether you're [from] Kent, Labour, Conservative or Martian," she says.