Natalie Elphicke: Who is the former Tory MP who defected to Labour?

Natalie Elphicke is the second Conservative MP to defect to Labour in two weeks.

The move came as even bigger surprise than Dan Poulter's defection, as unlike him she was seen as being on the right of the Conservative Party.

She supported Liz Truss in the 2022 Tory leadership contest and had been a harsh critic of Sir Keir Starmer's stance on immigration.

But the Dover MP is no fan of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, blaming him for ousting Boris Johnson, "the elected prime minister", in a "coup" in a statement announcing her defection to Labour.

"For me key deciding factors have been housing and the safety and security of our borders," she says of her decision to defect.

Mrs Elphicke was elected as Dover's Conservative MP in 2019, taking over the seat which had been held by her disgraced, then-husband Charlie, who was jailed for two years after being found guilty in 2020 of sexually assaulting two women.

She was given the candidacy days before she was first elected in 2019, following a career as a housing and finance lawyer.

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On becoming the first female MP for Dover, she joined the pro-Brexit European Research Group (ERG) of MPs and repeatedly criticised Labour for being soft on migration and untrustworthy on Brexit and running the economy.

With her constituency covering the UK's main port, Mrs Elphicke was 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" as the left routes open for suspected terrorists to stay in the UK.

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.

She was also a big critic of P&O's decision to slash pay rates, but she was heckled by P&O workers about her government's actions when she turned up to a rally in support of 800 workers sacked without notice.

A taste of Natalie Elphicke's previous attacks on the Labour Party:

• "This morning I and Conservative colleagues met the PM at No 10 where he set out his determination to Stop the Boats. Meanwhile Labour say taxpayers should pay asylum seekers nearly £20,000 a year - and also give them legal aid to launch endless appeals." (April '23)

• "At PMQs today a very muddled and confused performance by Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer. A strong reminder that all the opposition offer is a Lib/Lab/SNP coalition of chaos that would take our country backwards on Brexit and break up the United Kingdom" (June '22)

• "If Labour's only policy is to rely on the French, then they are not serious about stopping small boats, tackling criminality, protecting people from the smuggling gangs or saving lives in the Channel." (Sept '22)

• "Labour's solution to tackle the cost of living? Grabbing more in taxes from the pockets of millions of hardworking British people. Same old Labour" (Sept '22)

In 2020, she got into a spat with footballer Marcus Rashford, who forced the Tories to U-turn on their stance against free school meals during the holidays in a high-profile campaign.

Following England crashing out of the Euro 2020 finals, she apologised after suggesting he should have spent more time "perfecting his game" rather than "playing politics".

She is the vice chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Ports and has also been a ministerial aide for defence, housing and health and in 2015 was awarded an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours for her services to housing. 

Mrs Elphicke grew up in Kent, studied at the University of Kent at Canterbury, and spent 20 years as a lawyer.

She had robustly defended her now ex-husband throughout the trial as well as following his conviction.

After his conviction, she gave an interview saying the allegations were "false" and he had been punished for being "charming, wealthy, charismatic and successful". She also told the BBC she thought the sentence was "excessive" and criticised the court as being "on a bit of a mission".

Mrs Elphicke was one of five senior Tory MPs who improperly tried to influence the trial judge, which the Commons standards committee later described as "egregious behaviour" that was "corrosive to the rule of law".