Stop voting for fucking Tories

[C69]

He must be worried; he's now conceding that they're going to lose, but they're back again warning of chaos if Labour get in power

Rishi Sunak: Britain faces hung parliament at general election

The prime minister expresses disappointment after Conservative losses in last week’s local elections

Britain is heading for a hung parliament, Rishi Sunak has claimed as he urged Tory MPs to end their divisions and “come together” to take on Labour.

In his first comments since the full extent of the party’s local election losses became clear, the prime minister admitted that the results had been “bitterly disappointing” for the Conservatives. The party lost nearly 500 council seats and the West Midlands mayoralty.

However, Sunak seized on a projection by Michael Thrasher, the elections expert, that suggested if Thursday’s results were replicated in a general election, Labour would fall short of enough seats to win power.

Sunak conceded for the first time that his party could be on course to lose its majority but said voters would not want to see Sir Keir Starmer “propped up in Downing Street” by the SNP, the Liberal Democrats and the Greens.
....

https://archive.ph/hq6EM

He can't be much of an Elections expert if his analysis says Labour ends up with anything other than a massive majority.

Basing the results only on England from the overall council election percentages with an assumption of no gains in Scotland. It also does not get an analysis of the Blackpool South by election and the nuances that tactical voting and the effect of Reform taking votes from the Tories will have.
Given that Reform didn't really take the council elections seriously and had very few up for election the analysis should be viewed with that in mind.
When I say viewed, I mean laughed at and discounted.
The red wall is completely gone now.
And McFadden said yesterday they will basically not be fighting in areas they can not win.
Basically given a green light for the Lib Dems in areas where they are second to the Tories to concentrate their energies there.
It's basically a defacto pact not to take votes from each other where splitting the anti Tory vote may hamper the LDs or Labour.
Factor in Reform then the Tories are fucked.

[_Os_]

Deeply suspicious that Tory advisors and some in the media started the "mixed bag" and "hung parliament" lies whilst the count was ongoing. The Tories and their media helpers also started "Hall has won" before London even started counting. Now the PM is saying similar things. Almost like it's the same script written by the Tory election campaign team.

It's disinformation to prevent Labour getting positive coverage.

Sunak is copying the Tory 2015 playbook, "chaos under Starmer" and "hung parliament means a Labour SNP coalition". The purpose is squeezing voters to vote Tory. It's stupid for the Tories to do this in 2024. The reality is the Tories are under 20% in the polls and just heavily lost in real elections, like claiming Rwanda is a safe country they're creating future problems by ignoring this objective reality, when disengaged voters hear Sunak saying a hung parliament is coming the reaction of most will be "I must make sure I vote the Tories out to avoid this!".

[SaintK]

Deeply suspicious that Tory advisors and some in the media started the "mixed bag" and "hung parliament" lies whilst the count was ongoing. The Tories and their media helpers also started "Hall has won" before London even started counting. Now the PM is saying similar things. Almost like it's the same script written by the Tory election campaign team.

It's disinformation to prevent Labour getting positive coverage.

Sunak is copying the Tory 2015 playbook, "chaos under Starmer" and "hung parliament means a Labour SNP coalition". The purpose is squeezing voters to vote Tory. It's stupid for the Tories to do this in 2024. The reality is the Tories are under 20% in the polls and just heavily lost in real elections, like claiming Rwanda is a safe country they're creating future problems by ignoring this objective reality, when disengaged voters hear Sunak saying a hung parliament is coming the reaction of most will be "I must make sure I vote the Tories out to avoid this!".

Yes, lots of disinformation flying about on this
The Thrasher extrapolation of voting figures has been discredited by the major pollsters

Speaking to the Times, Sunak has said that the projection by the elections expert Michael Thrasher that extrapolated the share of local council voting nationwide to a general election showed that the country was heading for “a hung parliament with Labour as the largest party”.

The fifth Conservative prime minister in the last eight years told the newspaper:

Keir Starmer propped up in Downing Street by the SNP, Liberal Democrats and the Greens would be a disaster for Britain. The country doesn’t need more political horse trading, but action. We are the only party that has a plan to deliver on the priorities of the people.

[C69]

The problem is people have seen that the Tories plans are not working. So saying they have a plan is actually turning people off.
Their plans have screwed up the UK.
It will be about focussed campaigning as I pointed out earlier.
The by elections have shown that when necessary tactical voting to kick out the Tories happens.
I read a piece by Beth Rigby yesterday and must say it was wholly divorced from the reality of the results.
McFadden and the LD campaign lead have without doubt had a nod and a wink about where they will be campaigning.

[_Os_]

Deeply suspicious that Tory advisors and some in the media started the "mixed bag" and "hung parliament" lies whilst the count was ongoing. The Tories and their media helpers also started "Hall has won" before London even started counting. Now the PM is saying similar things. Almost like it's the same script written by the Tory election campaign team.

It's disinformation to prevent Labour getting positive coverage.

Sunak is copying the Tory 2015 playbook, "chaos under Starmer" and "hung parliament means a Labour SNP coalition". The purpose is squeezing voters to vote Tory. It's stupid for the Tories to do this in 2024. The reality is the Tories are under 20% in the polls and just heavily lost in real elections, like claiming Rwanda is a safe country they're creating future problems by ignoring this objective reality, when disengaged voters hear Sunak saying a hung parliament is coming the reaction of most will be "I must make sure I vote the Tories out to avoid this!".

Yes, lots of disinformation flying about on this
The Thrasher extrapolation of voting figures has been discredited by the major pollsters

Speaking to the Times, Sunak has said that the projection by the elections expert Michael Thrasher that extrapolated the share of local council voting nationwide to a general election showed that the country was heading for “a hung parliament with Labour as the largest party”.

The fifth Conservative prime minister in the last eight years told the newspaper:

Keir Starmer propped up in Downing Street by the SNP, Liberal Democrats and the Greens would be a disaster for Britain. The country doesn’t need more political horse trading, but action. We are the only party that has a plan to deliver on the priorities of the people.

They're going to needlessly put us through 6 more months of this.

I don't understand the reluctance to call an election date. A snap election can be used to catch opposition parties unaware (no manifesto prepared etc), but that's not going to happen, every party is ready. The date now seems to be winter 2024/2025? Sunak must really rate Tory volunteers if he thinks they're going to trudge around in the cold and dark ruining their Christmas for a lost cause.

It's all becoming undignified. Can't even announce a date for something everyone knows must happen. Sunak is taking the piss.

[sockwithaticket]

Deeply suspicious that Tory advisors and some in the media started the "mixed bag" and "hung parliament" lies whilst the count was ongoing. The Tories and their media helpers also started "Hall has won" before London even started counting. Now the PM is saying similar things. Almost like it's the same script written by the Tory election campaign team.

It's disinformation to prevent Labour getting positive coverage.

Sunak is copying the Tory 2015 playbook, "chaos under Starmer" and "hung parliament means a Labour SNP coalition". The purpose is squeezing voters to vote Tory. It's stupid for the Tories to do this in 2024. The reality is the Tories are under 20% in the polls and just heavily lost in real elections, like claiming Rwanda is a safe country they're creating future problems by ignoring this objective reality, when disengaged voters hear Sunak saying a hung parliament is coming the reaction of most will be "I must make sure I vote the Tories out to avoid this!".

Yes, lots of disinformation flying about on this
The Thrasher extrapolation of voting figures has been discredited by the major pollsters

Speaking to the Times, Sunak has said that the projection by the elections expert Michael Thrasher that extrapolated the share of local council voting nationwide to a general election showed that the country was heading for “a hung parliament with Labour as the largest party”.

The fifth Conservative prime minister in the last eight years told the newspaper:

Keir Starmer propped up in Downing Street by the SNP, Liberal Democrats and the Greens would be a disaster for Britain. The country doesn’t need more political horse trading, but action. We are the only party that has a plan to deliver on the priorities of the people.

They're going to needlessly put us through 6 more months of this.

I don't understand the reluctance to call an election date. A snap election can be used to catch opposition parties unaware (no manifesto prepared etc), but that's not going to happen, every party is ready. The date now seems to be winter 2024/2025? Sunak must really rate Tory volunteers if he thinks they're going to trudge around in the cold and dark ruining their Christmas for a lost cause.

It's all becoming undignified. Can't even announce a date for something everyone knows must happen. Sunak is taking the piss.

They're clinging on to try and push as much stuff like this through as possible
https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... shore-wind

It's not an unreasonable expectation that they'll be sitting on the sidelines for at least two parliaments, so they won't relinquish power and their (dwindling) majority, until they absolutely have to.

Also, the longer they cling on the longer they allow donors like Serco to fill their snouts in the taxpayer trough. I would imagine that once someone from Labour gets into the Home Office/Border Agency and starts trying to actually speed up migrant processing then the nice little earner of migrants parked in hotels indefinitely will start to yield less than is currently filling Serco coffers.

[fishfoodie]

Yes, lots of disinformation flying about on this
The Thrasher extrapolation of voting figures has been discredited by the major pollsters

They're going to needlessly put us through 6 more months of this.

I don't understand the reluctance to call an election date. A snap election can be used to catch opposition parties unaware (no manifesto prepared etc), but that's not going to happen, every party is ready. The date now seems to be winter 2024/2025? Sunak must really rate Tory volunteers if he thinks they're going to trudge around in the cold and dark ruining their Christmas for a lost cause.

It's all becoming undignified. Can't even announce a date for something everyone knows must happen. Sunak is taking the piss.

They're clinging on to try and push as much stuff like this through as possible
https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... shore-wind

It's not an unreasonable expectation that they'll be sitting on the sidelines for at least two parliaments, so they won't relinquish power and their (dwindling) majority, until they absolutely have to.

Also, the longer they cling on the longer they allow donors like Serco to fill their snouts in the taxpayer trough. I would imagine that once someone from Labour gets into the Home Office/Border Agency and starts trying to actually speed up migrant processing then the nice little earner of migrants parked in hotels indefinitely will start to yield less than is currently filling Serco coffers.

Don't forget that India trade deal !

Now Sunak has to wait for Modi to get re-elected before he can feather his own nest with a few billion.

[_Os_]

They're clinging on to try and push as much stuff like this through as possible
https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... shore-wind

It's not an unreasonable expectation that they'll be sitting on the sidelines for at least two parliaments, so they won't relinquish power and their (dwindling) majority, until they absolutely have to.

Also, the longer they cling on the longer they allow donors like Serco to fill their snouts in the taxpayer trough. I would imagine that once someone from Labour gets into the Home Office/Border Agency and starts trying to actually speed up migrant processing then the nice little earner of migrants parked in hotels indefinitely will start to yield less than is currently filling Serco coffers.

Don't forget that India trade deal !

Now Sunak has to wait for Modi to get re-elected before he can feather his own nest with a few billion.

Corruption and a rushed India trade deal are the only plausible justifications for this government continuing. The only other reason is Sunak is so detached from reality, that he really does think voters are morons and will be hugely impressed by the Rwanda scheme.

The GE should've already been held. After Big Dog's removal in 2022, or on the same day as the locals in 2023, or on the same day as the locals this year.

Maybe we should be hoping the date is finally announced around Christmas for the end of January 2025. The longer this goes on the more damaged the Tories are.

[petej]

They're clinging on to try and push as much stuff like this through as possible
https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... shore-wind

It's not an unreasonable expectation that they'll be sitting on the sidelines for at least two parliaments, so they won't relinquish power and their (dwindling) majority, until they absolutely have to.

Also, the longer they cling on the longer they allow donors like Serco to fill their snouts in the taxpayer trough. I would imagine that once someone from Labour gets into the Home Office/Border Agency and starts trying to actually speed up migrant processing then the nice little earner of migrants parked in hotels indefinitely will start to yield less than is currently filling Serco coffers.

Don't forget that India trade deal !

Now Sunak has to wait for Modi to get re-elected before he can feather his own nest with a few billion.

Corruption and a rushed India trade deal are the only plausible justifications for this government continuing. The only other reason is Sunak is so detached from reality, that he really does think voters are morons and will be hugely impressed by the Rwanda scheme.

The GE should've already been held. After Big Dog's removal in 2022, or on the same day as the locals in 2023, or on the same day as the locals this year.

Maybe we should be hoping the date is finally announced around Christmas for the end of January 2025. The longer this goes on the more damaged the Tories are.

Considering the demographics of the Tories being asked to go out, campaign and vote in December will not be appreciated.

[salanya]

Local councils are prepping for November elections (I think the second week)

Tories working to line up their book deals (and Indian deal), and hoping for positive vibes after summer, Olympics, and who knows, perhaps a reduction in (mortgage) rates.

[fishfoodie]

Local councils are prepping for November elections (I think the second week)

Tories working to line up their book deals (and Indian deal), and hoping for positive vibes after summer, Olympics, and who knows, perhaps a reduction in (mortgage) rates.

and hoping fervently that the increasing cost of food, because of their Brexit, doesn't make a traditional Christmas dinner unaffordable for many.

[C69]

The UK's most reknowned psephologist calls bullshit on the hung parliament suggestion from Sunak et al

By Sir John Curtice
Professor of Politics at Strathclyde University
We perhaps should not be surprised that the prime minister has seized upon an extrapolation of Thursday's local election results that pointed to the prospect that the general election could result in a hung parliament in which Labour would be the largest party.

Such a scenario, he argued, would mean that Sir Keir Starmer would be "propped up in Downing Street" by the SNP, the Liberal Democrats, and the Greens.

Many Conservative MPs (and indeed Labour ones too) believe that a poster their party ran in the 2015 election, when the polls were pointing to a hung parliament, showing the then Labour leader, Ed Miliband, in the pocket of the former SNP leader, Alex Salmond, played a key role in delivering the Conservatives a surprise overall majority.

Whether or not that is what happened is not easy for analysts to say. However, British Election Study data collected at the time did not show any marked swing away from Labour among those who came to believe that Mr Miliband would be willing to do a deal with the SNP.

But, in any event, how realistic is it to use the share of the vote won by the parties in local elections to anticipate what might happen in an immediate general election? There are certainly two potential difficulties.

Although the ups and downs in party performance in local elections often run in parallel with the rises and falls in party support in the polls, some people (around one in five) vote differently in local elections than they would in a general election.

As a result the divergence between the level of support parties win in a localelection and how well they would perform in a general election has become more marked.

Nowadays the Liberal Democrats consistently outperform their national standing in the local ballot boxes. The same has also come to be true of the Greens, while independent candidates have also enjoyed some notable success in recent years. Labour, in contrast, often do less well in local elections.

'Work to do' after local election losses, Sunak says
Kuenssberg: Are Tories resigned to electoral fate under Sunak?
Meanwhile, the party political battle in Scotland is now very different from that in England - and the outcome of the current battle north of the border between Labour and the SNP could be crucial to the result of the next election. English local elections do not tell us much about what will happen north of the border.

These developments have made discerning the implications of local elections for the outcome of a general election more difficult.

At the same time, there are two particular features of the results of this year's local elections that make it especially difficult.

First, the polls suggest that more people who voted Conservative in 2019 have now switched to Reform than to Labour. But Reform were only on the ballot paper in one in six council wards. So, it may well be the case that people who would vote Reform if there had been a Reform candidate locally stuck with the Tories instead.

Certainly, Conservative support fell more heavily where Reform did stand. In the BBC's sample of key wards the party's support fell by 19 points in these wards - compared with 11 points in wards where Reform did not stand. Labour, in contrast, did rather better where Reform stood.

That 19-point drop matches the 19-point fall in the average level of Conservative support in the polls since May 2021. That figure may represent a better guide to the Conservatives' immediate prospects in a general election.

Second, the local election results confirm the message from last year's contests that the geography of party support has changed to the Conservatives' disadvantage.

The party's support fell more heavily in wards it was trying to defend.

At the same time, some voters seemingly voted for whichever party was best placed to defeat the Conservatives locally. Labour's support increased most (at the expense of the Liberal Democrats) in wards where they started off second to the Conservatives, while the Liberal Democrats advanced most (and Labour did less well) in wards where were the principal challengers locally.

Indeed, it is these two patterns that help explain why the Conservative Party lost nearly one in two of the council seats it was trying to defend. Conservative MPs would be unwise to assume that the same fate could not also befall them.

[Lobby]

I'm not sure if it has been reported here yet, but following Laurence Fox's failure to submit the correct forms on time to stand for London Mayor, he did manage to submit an application to stand in the elections for a position on the London Assembly.

Sadly for him, he didn't do terribly well and lost his deposit of £5,000 after securing just 0.005% of the votes cast for Assembly Members .

[inactionman]

I'm not sure if it has been reported here yet, but following Laurence Fox's failure to submit the correct forms on time to stand for London Mayor, he did manage to submit an application to stand in the elections for a position on the London Assembly.

Sadly for him, he didn't do terribly well and lost his deposit of £5,000 after securing just 0.005% of the votes cast for Assembly Members .

[inactionman]

I'm actually starting to feel a bit sorry for him, everything he touches turns to shite and he just cannot stop shooting himself in the foot.

[robmatic]

I'm actually starting to feel a bit sorry for him, everything he touches turns to shite and he just cannot stop shooting himself in the foot.

He's successful at getting himself a lot of attention.

[shaggy]

The UK's most reknowned psephologist calls bullshit on the hung parliament suggestion from Sunak et al

Sky were first with the hung parliament analysis. I though Sunak was using that as his reasoning.

[Biffer]

I'm actually starting to feel a bit sorry for him, everything he touches turns to shite and he just cannot stop shooting himself in the foot.

Nah. He's a cunt.

[SaintK]

............and another one crosses the floor! Always thought she was to the right of the Tory party?

We can bring you more now from Natalie Elphicke, who has just announced her move to Labour.

In a statement, she hit out at the "broken promises of Rishi Sunak's tired and chaotic government".

The Dover MP crossed the floor in the Commons just moments before Prime Minister's Questions.

She said: "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."

Her resignation comes less than two weeks after MP Dan Poulter defected to Labour.

[Insane_Homer]

She's also not standing for re-election.

[SaintK]

She's also not standing for re-election.

Aaaah!
She didn't hold back.

This time it is Natalie Elphicke, just as PMQs starts - timed for maximum political impact.

And listen to her words: "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."

[sturginho]

His political career lasted less than some of his batting stints

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-68976806

[tabascoboy]

............and another one crosses the floor! Always thought she was to the right of the Tory party?

We can bring you more now from Natalie Elphicke, who has just announced her move to Labour.

In a statement, she hit out at the "broken promises of Rishi Sunak's tired and chaotic government".

The Dover MP crossed the floor in the Commons just moments before Prime Minister's Questions.

She said: "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."

Her resignation comes less than two weeks after MP Dan Poulter defected to Labour.

Mixed blessing as she's not regarded as a pleasant individual - but was a good fit for the shithole that is Dover

Her voting record does little to suggest she's anything like a "moderate" in the Tories

https://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/25831 ... over/votes

[David in Gwent]

............and another one crosses the floor! Always thought she was to the right of the Tory party?

We can bring you more now from Natalie Elphicke, who has just announced her move to Labour.

In a statement, she hit out at the "broken promises of Rishi Sunak's tired and chaotic government".

The Dover MP crossed the floor in the Commons just moments before Prime Minister's Questions.

She said: "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."

Her resignation comes less than two weeks after MP Dan Poulter defected to Labour.

Fair play to her. I might of thought different if she was trying to save her salary but she's not.

[David in Gwent]

............and another one crosses the floor! Always thought she was to the right of the Tory party?

We can bring you more now from Natalie Elphicke, who has just announced her move to Labour.

In a statement, she hit out at the "broken promises of Rishi Sunak's tired and chaotic government".

The Dover MP crossed the floor in the Commons just moments before Prime Minister's Questions.

She said: "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."

Her resignation comes less than two weeks after MP Dan Poulter defected to Labour.

Mixed blessing as she's not regarded as a pleasant individual - but was a good fit for the shithole that is Dover

Her voting record does little to suggest she's anything like a "moderate" in the Tories

https://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/25831 ... over/votes

What right have you got to call it a shithole?

[tabascoboy]

............and another one crosses the floor! Always thought she was to the right of the Tory party?

Mixed blessing as she's not regarded as a pleasant individual - but was a good fit for the shithole that is Dover

Her voting record does little to suggest she's anything like a "moderate" in the Tories

https://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/25831 ... over/votes

What right have you got to call it a shithole?

I take it you've never met Dover Athletic FC fans, does have a nice castle though so there is that

[Biffer]

She's also not standing for re-election.

Yeah, it's very much a 'fuck you' to Sunak.

[sockwithaticket]

............and another one crosses the floor! Always thought she was to the right of the Tory party?

We can bring you more now from Natalie Elphicke, who has just announced her move to Labour.

In a statement, she hit out at the "broken promises of Rishi Sunak's tired and chaotic government".

The Dover MP crossed the floor in the Commons just moments before Prime Minister's Questions.

She said: "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."

Her resignation comes less than two weeks after MP Dan Poulter defected to Labour.

Mixed blessing as she's not regarded as a pleasant individual - but was a good fit for the shithole that is Dover

Her voting record does little to suggest she's anything like a "moderate" in the Tories

https://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/25831 ... over/votes

Given she's not standing again, I suppose her leanings don't really matter, but I don't like the optics of someone like her switching to Labour. Doesn't do anything to calm the suspicions of the party turning into Red Tories.

This

And listen to her words: "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."

paints someone who pines for Bojo the clown and doesn't recognise that as bad as things are under Sunak, the rot well and truly set in under the mendacious shit lord she seems to think was unfairly disposed of.

[Hal Jordan]

Her husband is a delightful fellow, too.

No, wait, I mean a convicted sex offender.

[I like neeps]

Kind of individual that you should say no to.

[Slick]

Kind of individual that you should say no to.

You'd think there would be more political capital in saying she asked to join but we said no as she doesn't align with our values. In saying that, the headline is "Tory Defects", and most won't be much interested beyond that.

[C69]

Kind of individual that you should say no to.

You'd think there would be more political capital in saying she asked to join but we said no as she doesn't align with our values. In saying that, the headline is "Tory Defects", and most won't be much interested beyond that.

It's the headline of the MP for Dover, that is plagued buy immigration has defected and called the PM and his immigration policy useless that counts.
That has got to hurt big style.

She hates Sunak so wants him to suffer.
I suspect this is going to be a slow drip as the last defector hinted.

[_Os_]

It's a bad move by Labour, and is a red flag.

Elphicke is a Tory headbanger loony. It's people like her which are a big part of the problem and why this thread exists at all.

Unfortunately Labour may think the pro-Brexit and immigration obsessed segment of the UK electorate, the people some know as gammons, are crucial to winning an election. This is a feature of FPTP, a small demographic spread over the right seats and prepared to change its vote gets everything they want given to them to win them over. Not convinced Labour actually need this support or even that they can win it, but why else would they want Elphicke. As has been posted before the larger problem is the gammons are basically wrong on everything, their analysis is wrong and their solutions are wrong, difficult to see how anything improves whilst their (often contradictory) demands are being accommodated.

[tabascoboy]

Well, that didn't last long

Former England cricketer Monty Panesar has quit George Galloway's party - just one week after being unveiled as a candidate.

Mr Panesar was the highest-profile recruit among dozens the Workers Party of Britain unveiled last week.

He had said he wanted to "represent the working class people of this country" at Westminster.

But, writing on social media, he said he needs more time to "find my political home".

[I like neeps]

Kind of individual that you should say no to.

You'd think there would be more political capital in saying she asked to join but we said no as she doesn't align with our values. In saying that, the headline is "Tory Defects", and most won't be much interested beyond that.

It's the headline of the MP for Dover, that is plagued buy immigration has defected and called the PM and his immigration policy useless that counts.
That has got to hurt big style.

She hates Sunak so wants him to suffer.
I suspect this is going to be a slow drip as the last defector hinted.

Giving up your principles for a headline? Dear oh dear.

As Os said, Elphicke's political views, public remarks, and hectoring of sexual assault victims are why we have have this thread. To accept someone who is so openly contradictory to your policies and values so that they can engage in a publicity stunt and you can get some headlines... It's needless. Shows a complete lack of principle - Labour already have the Tory chaos headlines, can't stop the boat headlines and will have until the election. You'd even suspect more moderate Tories to switch as they've been doing.

2025 and she'll be a Reform candidate on GB News criticising Starmer for not stopping the boats as she announces a return to Badenoch's Tories or Farage's reform. You engage with deeply unpleasant, power and fame hungry individuals at your own peril.

[C69]

Have to disagree with the posts above, on a political level this plays put really well.
If this right wing head banger can defect to Labour then it sends a message to the right wingers that this tame Blairite post Corbyn lot can't be the raving lefties the Tories say they are.

I don't like it but politically it's painting a picture of Tory incompetence on immigration and shows Starmer can be trusted.
It's political drip drip drip.

[I like neeps]

The issue Labour have, is that small boats aren't driven by domestic policies. You have every country in Europe, and the USA, completely unable to stop people escaping poverty, wars, climate breakdown.

So let's say Labour decide to spend the money (uh oh) required to get the French to stop their laissez faire border policing, scale up the people and systems required to process claims and then send people back. You won't have a meaningful improvement for a year or two, at least.

And there's really nothing the press will love more than former Labour MP for Dover Natalie Elphicke on TV hectoring their failure. And there's nothing publicity hungry Natalie Elphicke will enjoy more than that.

Labour, as a priority, should do all they can to calm the rhetoric about small boats. As the Tories have found out, you can make people really angry about small boats, they then become angry at you for not stopping them. So morals notwithstanding, making people angry for a problem even with great politics and money you can't solve.... is not smart!

But also why Starmer's govt won't succeed - not up to them to fix global immigration patterns, won't spend any money on broke and failing public services for which user demand will only increase, won't mention Brexit as they're absolutely terrified of saying that it's failed, and apparently are grubby opportunists who will welcome Tory headbangers with deeply unpleasant views for political points so won't improve the standards of our political class as they'll welcome someone who is among the worst of them into the tent.

[_Os_]

Have to disagree with the posts above, on a political level this plays put really well.
If this right wing head banger can defect to Labour then it sends a message to the right wingers that this tame Blairite post Corbyn lot can't be the raving lefties the Tories say they are.

I don't like it but politically it's painting a picture of Tory incompetence on immigration and shows Starmer can be trusted.
It's political drip drip drip.

It plays well with disengaged/low information voters (most of the electorate) for one news cycle and probably less than that. Unless Starmer can make this a more regular thing, there was speculation around 10 Tory MPs wanted to join Labour.

The red flag is that a party can govern like that too. That's how Tories govern. The trouble is that details matter, that's where the truth and everything else that matters is. It's not always a good idea to act on what polls well with disengaged/low information voters, that ends up in a mess then those same voters blame the government that did everything they wanted.

It's also unnecessarily picking a fight with the left. Abbott still doesn't have the Labour whip but Tory headbanger loony does. It looks bad because it is. The mess the UK is in is so large that if Starmer tries to govern he's going to alienate people, making hard choices means people losing out, if he wants to govern he'll have to move quickly and hope that overall his choices do more good than harm. The suspicion the left has is that those choices will replicate Tory mistakes, they are guessing and don't know for sure, but moves like this feed their fear. It ensures the Greens/SNP/Plaid Cymru will all be on him from day one, delaying those parties becoming a problem should be a Labour priority.

[tabascoboy]

And predictably it's proving divisive

Natalie Elphicke: Keir Starmer faces Labour anger after Tory MP's defection

Sir Keir Starmer's decision to admit Tory MP Natalie Elphicke into Labour has been met with bewilderment by some of his MPs. The Dover MP's surprise defection from the Conservatives has prompted reaction ranging from delight to anger by her new colleagues.

Canterbury MP Rosie Duffield said Labour MPs were "baffled" by her "really peculiar" move to swap sides. But a senior party figure hailed her switch as "one hell of a coup". And Sir Keir has said he is "delighted" with her defection, telling reporters it showed his party was "the party of the national interest".

Several sources suggested Labour's whips, responsible for party discipline, were worried about accepting her, but Labour deny this.
...
As well as her political stance, many Labour MPs are deeply uncomfortable with remarks she made about her then-husband Charlie Elphicke, whom she replaced as Dover MP in 2019.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-68980700

[C69]

And predictably it's proving divisive

Natalie Elphicke: Keir Starmer faces Labour anger after Tory MP's defection

Sir Keir Starmer's decision to admit Tory MP Natalie Elphicke into Labour has been met with bewilderment by some of his MPs. The Dover MP's surprise defection from the Conservatives has prompted reaction ranging from delight to anger by her new colleagues.

Canterbury MP Rosie Duffield said Labour MPs were "baffled" by her "really peculiar" move to swap sides. But a senior party figure hailed her switch as "one hell of a coup". And Sir Keir has said he is "delighted" with her defection, telling reporters it showed his party was "the party of the national interest".

Several sources suggested Labour's whips, responsible for party discipline, were worried about accepting her, but Labour deny this.
...
As well as her political stance, many Labour MPs are deeply uncomfortable with remarks she made about her then-husband Charlie Elphicke, whom she replaced as Dover MP in 2019.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-68980700

This was always going to be the case. If you asked Tories they would say the same.
It's a non story. Who cares.