Additional reporting by KMTV’s Sofia Akin

A Kent MP has defected to the Labour Party just moments before Prime Minister’s Questions began - leaving local Tories shocked.

Natalie Elphicke, who represents Dover and Deal, crossed the floor in the House of Commons today.

She says “many things have changed” since she was elected in 2019 - succeeding her husband Charlie - and believes the “modern Labour Party looks to the future”.

But veteran Tory MP for North Thanet Sir Roger Gale has described her actions as a “monumental demonstration of disloyalty”, while the Conservative Mayor of Deal says he feels “stabbed in the back”.

The Conservative Party says the people of Dover and Deal will be “disappointed” by the move and pointed out Ms Elphicke wrote an article last year titled: ‘Don’t trust Labour on immigration they really want open borders’.

Labour already has a parliamentary candidate for the constituency in Mike Tapp and reports suggest Ms Elphicke will not be standing at the next election. She says she has not been offered a peerage by Labour.

Political forecasting website Electoral Calculus gives the Conservatives just an 8% chance of winning the Dover and Deal seat.

In a statement, Ms Elphicke said: “When I was elected in 2019, the Conservative Party occupied the centre ground of British politics. The party was about building the future and making the most of the opportunities that lay ahead for our country.

“Since then, many things have changed. The elected Prime Minister was ousted in a coup led by the unelected Rishi Sunak. Under Rishi Sunak, the Conservatives have become a byword for incompetence and division. The centre ground has been abandoned and key pledges of the 2019 manifesto have been ditched.

“Meanwhile, the Labour Party has changed out of all recognition. Since 2019, it has moved on from Jeremy Corbyn and now, under Keir Starmer, occupies the centre ground of British politics. It has accepted Brexit and its economic policies and defence policies are responsible and can be trusted.

“Most significantly for me, the modern Labour Party looks to the future – to building a Britain of hope, optimism, opportunity and fairness. A Britain everyone can be part of.”

“I have carefully considered this decision. The change has been dramatic and cannot be ignored. For me key deciding factors have been housing and the safety and security of our borders.

“From small boats to biosecurity, Rishi Sunak’s government is failing to keep our borders safe and secure. Lives are being lost in the English Channel while small boat arrivals are once again at record levels. It’s clear they have failed to keep our borders secure and cannot be trusted.

“On housing, Rishi Sunak’s government is now failing to build the homes we need. Last year saw the largest fall of new housing starts in England in a single year since the credit crunch. The manifesto committed to 300,000 homes next year – but only around half that number are now set to be built. Renters and leaseholders have been betrayed as manifesto pledges to end no fault evictions and abolish ground rents have not been delivered as promised.

“The last couple of years have also seen a huge rise in homelessness, in temporary accommodation and rough sleeping - with record numbers of children now in temporary accommodation, without a secure roof over their head.

“Meanwhile, Labour plan to build the homes we need, help young people onto the housing ladder and care about the vulnerable and homeless. That’s why I’m honoured to have been asked to work with Keir and the team to help deliver the homes we need.

“We need to move on from the broken promises of Rishi Sunak’s tired and chaotic government. Britain needs a government that will build a future of hope, optimism, opportunity and fairness. A Britain everyone can be part of, that will make the most of the opportunities that lie ahead. That’s why it’s time for change. Time for a Labour government led by Keir Starmer. The General Election cannot come soon enough.”

Cllr Oliver Richardson, who represents the Tories at district and county level, as well as being Mayor of Deal, told KentOnline: “I am disappointed, let down and I feel stabbed in the back.”

A Conservative Party spokesperson said: “The people of Dover and Deal will be disappointed having felt the impact of illegal immigration.

“They did have an MP who sat with the Party fighting to tackle this issue head-on, now they have an MP in a Party that has worked to block our plans to tackle illegal immigration 139 times.

“We wish Natalie well as she now has to support Labour's amnesty for illegal immigrants and one that directly opposes her own views – it was only last year that she penned an article titled ‘Don’t trust Labour on immigration they really want open borders’.”

Sir Keir Starmer has welcomed Ms Elphicke, asking Rishi Sunak “what is the point of this failed government staggering on” when “the Tory MP for Dover on the front line of small boats crisis says the Prime Minister cannot be trusted with our borders and joins Labour”.

Canterbury’s Labour MP Rosie Duffield posted on X: “Am no longer the only @UKLabour MP in Kent!!!”

In the run-up to the 2019 general election, Ms Elphicke was selected as the prospective parliamentary candidate for Dover as her husband Charlie, who at the time was facing charges of sexual assault, agreed to stand aside. He had been MP for the constituency for the past nine years.

In September 2020, Mr Elphicke was jailed for two years after being found guilty of sexual assaults on two women.

Keith Single, the chairman of the Dover and Deal Conservative Association, who stuck by the Elphickes throughout the controversy, declined to comment when approached by KentOnline.

Sir Roger Gale was suspended for one day from the Commons for trying to “improperly influence judicial proceedings” in the case involving Mr Elphicke.

He was among five Conservative MPs who wrote to judges urging them not to release character references they had submitted in support of the former MP.

Reacting to Ms Elphicke’s defection today, Sir Roger said: “Having given Mrs Elphicke considerable personal support at the time when she most needed it I think it is fair to say that her monumental demonstration of disloyalty to her former friends warrants mild disappointment!

“So far as I can see Mrs Elphicke has absolutely nothing in common with either the old or the ‘re-invented’ Labour Party.

“I would like to think that she will not be dishonourable enough to accept a peerage from Mr Starmer and it will be interesting to see if she has the courage to fight her Dover seat as a socialist.”

Meanwhile, transport Minister Huw Merriman has described the defection as a "shameless decision" that's left him "staggered".

Conservative MP for Rochester and Strood Kelly Tolhurst was also disappointed by her colleague’s defection.

She said: "I am very surprised because Natalie had always been very critical of Labour as a Kent MP.

“Ultimately it’s down to her. I’m not too sure about what she’s done about her future and it’s disappointing.

“Do I agree with her? Absolutely not.

“We have been working really hard to tackle the small boats situation.

“I think this more about person than about actually what’s happening on the ground.”

Charlotte Cornell, who stood for Labour against Ms Elphicke in the 2019 election, told KentOnline she is “completely shocked” and the local party were unaware the defection was coming.

“I am sure discussions have been had for some time in Westminster,” the Canterbury city councillor said.

“Natalie has always had a hardline on immigration, vocally anti-union, she was a hard-right member of the European Research Group - these are not values I held and many of the local party do not hold.

“However, leopards can change their spots so maybe Natalie has seen the light.

“It is a strange and bittersweet moment.

“I am delighted there is another Labour vote in Parliament and Natalie has realised the Conservative solutions on the boats are unsustainable, impractical and illogical.

“However, the proof of the pudding will be in the eating and we will see if Natalie’s politics live up to practical action of what she is claiming the change is.

“I have heard Natalie is not standing at the next general election and Mike Tapp will be.”

A member of the Labour Party in Kent, who asked not to be named, said: "I thought it was April 1. I am absolutely furious.

“I would have thought that if she was going to defect, then she would be more at home in the Reform Party."

KentOnline’s political editor Paul Francis gives his analysis

As defections go, Natalie Elphicke’s decision to switch to Labour is pretty seismic.

It won’t on its own lead to a challenge to Rishi Sunak, but it has left the Conservatives in turmoil.

She labels her own government a byword for incompetence and chaos - pretty heady stuff.

It’s not clear if she told the PM before the shock announcement. Some will see her defection as opportunistic but reports suggest she will not be standing in the general election.

But it has taken the wind out of the party’s sails. Choppy waters that were already threatening to overturn the leaky Tory vessel suddenly got choppier.

Defections are difficult for party managers to deal with and the local constituency’s association chairman’s silence on the news tells you a lot.

Kent MPs also seem to have been blindsided by the news but there was a jibe from the veteran MP Sir Roger Gale who described her defection in a tweet as “seriously disloyal”.

It certainly helps out the Labour Party candidate Mike Tapp, who was already in pole position in a seat it last held for three terms under Tony Blair.

Rishi Sunak, on the other hand, must be wondering what nightmare might come next.