MP for Dover Natalie Elphicke (Gareth Fuller/PA)
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What do you do when your boss isn’t acting the way you want? You join the competition, of course. That’s exactly what the MP for Dover, Natalie Elphicke, did when she crossed the floor of the Commons and sat behind Sir Keir Starmer at Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday. She’s rocked the political world with this surprise move to join the Labour party, citing “key deciding factors” as housing issues and immigration.
Why is the move so shocking? Well, Elphicke has previously insulted Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, for starters, calling him “confused and muddled.” A pretty awkward way to start a new working relationship. She’s also been described as super right-wing, even for the Tories. What’s more, her new colleague, shadow secretary Rachel Reeves, once told her to “f*** off” following controversial comments about Marcus Rashford (more on that later).
To say that politicians are shocked would be an understatement. Conservative Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said the defection was “baffling”, while Government minister Huw Merriman said he is “absolutely staggered”. Tory former minister Stephen Hammond said that one of the reasons why he was so surprised is that Elphicke has “always been on the right of the Conservative Party”.
And he’s got a point. If a picture is worth a thousand words, Elphicke’s voting record is the Mona Lisa. She was among the 322 MPs who voted against free school meals back in 2020, and as recently as February this year voted to reject a climate change test for new oil and gas licences. She’s backed restrictions against Trade Unions and has consistently voted to make it easier to remove someone’s British citizenship.
Not only is the former Tory a right-wing devotee, Elphicke has attacked the Labour party on numerous occasions. In an opinion piece for the Express in April last year, she called Sir Keir Starmer “Sir Softie” and used the column to claim that “not only have Labour got no plan of their own to tackle illegal immigration, they simply do not want to”.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer with former Conservative MP Natalie Elphicke (Stefan Rousseau/PA)
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Even the way Elphicke got into office is soaked in scandal. She became MP for Dover in 2019 as a replacement for her then-husband, Charlie Elphicke, when he was sent to prison for sexual assault. She was criticised for defending the self-proclaimed “naughty Tory” throughout his trial and found herself in even more trouble by breaching the MP conduct code for interfering in the legal proceedings.
Here are eight of Natalie Elphicke’s most controversial comments, from defending her “sexual predator” husband to attacking footballer Marcus Rashford.
“Charlie is charming, wealthy, charismatic and successful – attractive, and attracted to, women”
Elphicke made this comment to The Sun back in 2020 following her husband’s conviction for sexual assault on three women. In the same article, she casts doubt on the women who brought the claims against her husband, claiming he was an “easy target” for “false allegations”. She has since apologised for the comment, saying that “it was right that he was prosecuted” and that she is sorry for what she said about the women.
“Men sometimes stray, wives always wish they wouldn’t”
In another comment that she made to The Sun, Elphicke seemingly diminished the wrongdoing of her husband by excusing his actions and generalising all men.
“When will the Left admit this is no refugee crisis… but simply illegal immigration?”
As MP for Dover, Elphicke is on the front-line of the small boat emergency. Immigration is one of her most outspoken policies, with this comment being the headline of an article she wrote for the Mail on Sunday in October 2022.
“Don’t trust Labour on immigration they really want open borders”
In a column for the Express in April 2023, Elphicke made this statement about the political party that she now represents.
“This Christmas reinforces to me how vital it is that we bring the treacherous small boats crossings to an end once and for all”
Elphicke made this highly controversial post on social media on Christmas Day in 2021. SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford called it “sickening”, with many other people pointing out that Christmas is traditionally a time to help those in need.
“This is unacceptable that people are breaking into Britain in this way”
This was a statement that Elphicke made in a video posted to social media in August 2020 after migrants came ashore in Kent. Her comment drew wide criticism, including from immigration and human rights lawyers who criticised her for her “appalling and dehumanising language”.
“The Government must put in funding at the border to deal with the problem and stop the smuggling of puppies, kittens and, indeed, ferrets”
She once argued in the Commons.
Former Conservative MP Charlie Elphicke arriving at Southwark Crown Court alongside MP for Dover Natalie Elphicke
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“Under Rishi Sunak, the Conservatives have become a byword for incompetence and division”
Elphicke’s main motivation for leaving the Conservatives seems to be her fractured relationship with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. In her defection statement, released just before PMQs, she accused Sunak of breaking promises and abandoning his key pledges.
On footballer Marcus Rashford
“They lost – would it be ungenerous to say Rashford should have spent more time perfecting his game and less time playing politics”
This was the unfortunate message that Elphicke shared privately among colleagues after the footballer missed *that* crucial penalty in the 2020 Euros. Elphicke was referencing Rashford’s campaign for free school meals which began in June 2020, something that the politician voted against in parliament. She later apologised for the comment against Rashford, but the damage was already done in many people’s eyes.