Tory MP defects to Labour in fresh blow for PM Sunak
Former minister Dr Dan Poulter asks Sunak to call election ‘as soon as possible,’ says he was motivated by the troubles facing the National Health Service
A top Tory MP has defected to the Labour Party after claiming the Conservatives have become a “nationalist party of the right.”
Conservatives MP Dan Poulter has defected to the Labour Party, opposition leader Keir Starmer confirmed on Saturday, dealing another blow to embattled prime minister Rishi Sunak.
Poulter, a former health minister, told the Observer newspaper that he was switching parties and called on Sunak to call a general election “as soon as possible.” Poulter said he was motivated by the troubles facing the National Health Service (NHS).
“It is abundantly clear to me that the Labour Party alone has the will and the trust to restore and reform the NHS,” he told the Observer in comments published on the website of its sister paper, The Guardian.
“That’s why we need a Labour government, and why I believe Keir Starmer must lead that government as our next prime minister,” he added. Poulter serves a constituency in south east England.
Starmer wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that it was “fantastic to welcome Dr Dan Poulter MP to today’s changed Labour Party.”
Sunak’s Conservatives are languishing in the polls ahead of a general election, which will almost certainly take place this year.
In an interview with the BBC, Dr Poulter said he could no longer look his NHS colleagues in the eye and remain a Conservative as the party was not focused on public services.
“The difficulty for the Conservative Party is that the party I was elected into valued public services,” he said. “It had a compassionate view about supporting the more disadvantaged in society. “I think the Conservative Party today is a very different place.”
He said his experiences over more than 20 night shifts over the last year in an overstretched A&E department had been “truly life changing”, adding that those experiences had persuaded him to defect.
According to the latest NHS data, more than a quarter of all admissions to A&E in March 2024 had to wait more than four hours between arrival and being discharged, despite the four-hour rule being the suggested maximum waiting time.
He said he believes Labour is the only party committed to investing in improving the NHS.
While Dr Poulter will not stand as a Labour MP for the upcoming general election, he says he hopes to assume a role advising the party on its policies on mental health while focusing more on his NHS work. The one nation Tory, from the left of the party, becomes the first Conservative MP to defect to the Labour Party since Christian Wakeford crossed the floor in 2022.
High-level discussions between Dr Poulter and senior Labour figures have been ongoing for months, according to The Observer, regarding the timings and organisation of his defection, as well as what advisory roles he could take on.
It is understood that Dr Poulter had been frustrated by the disinterest of consecutive prime ministers in his views on NHS reform since David Cameron’s premiership, during which there was a strong interest in the NHS.
Dr Poulter was first elected to parliament in 2010 and served as a health minister under nowlord Cameron from 2012 to 2015.
It is another blow to Rishi Sunak ahead of next week’s council and mayoral elections, in which the Conservatives are predicted to lose up to half of its remaining local authority seats.
Heavy losses at these elections could leave Sunak at risk of a possible pre-election leadership challenge.
Dr Poulter said he acknowledged the difficulty of the job facing Mr Sunak and that he had no personal vendetta against him.
But he praised Sir Keir for reforming the Labour Party since taking over from Jeremy Corbyn after the last general election loss to the Tories. Dr Poulter said the Labour Party had a clear focus on public service, lauding its commitment to preventative care, child health and the social causes of poor health.
“One of the things I really like about Labour party policy on the NHS is the focus on the social determinants of poor health and actually recognising that tackling poverty, poor housing, all those issues, particularly giving children from poorer backgrounds better chances and focusing on child health,” he told The Observer.