Another lawmaker from Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's UK Conservative Party defected to the opposition Labor Party on Wednesday, the second to do so in less than two weeks, for what he criticized as broken promises to a “tired and confused government”.
The Conservatives are 20 percentage points behind Labor in the polls for this year's national elections. The party suffered a crushing defeat in last week's local elections.
Natalie Elphick, who represents the constituency of Dover on England's south coast, withdrew shortly before Sunak was due to make a weekly visit to answer questions in Parliament.
“Under Rishi Sunak, conservatives have become synonymous with incompetence and divisiveness,” Elphick said in a statement.
Elphicke is the third Conservative MP to defect to Labor since the last 2019 election.
Former health minister Don Boulder quit last month, saying he could no longer represent the Conservative Party over the Sunak government's handling of the National Health Service (NHS).
A spokesman for Labor leader Keir Starmer said the party had been talking about Elphick's departure for “some time”. A spokeswoman said Elphike would not be running for Labor at the next election but could play a role in the party's housing development policy.
