Labour should think carefully before allowing more Tories to join

Editorial: Keir Starmer has some crucial lessons to learn after the way Dover MP Natalie Elphicke’s defection was mishandled

Dover MP Natalie Elphicke defected from the Tories to Labour (PA)

There is a maxim that a Budget that is well received on the day looks a lot less shiny a few days later after the fine print has been examined. Something similar might now be happening after the dramatic defection to Labour of the right-wing Conservative MP Natalie Elphicke.

It is easy to see why Sir Keir Starmer welcomed her with open arms, and on balance The Independent thinks he was right to do so. Her offer to jump ship was not one he could refuse, Ms Elphicke being the second Tory MP to join Labour in two weeks after Dan Poulter switched sides.

As Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, told a conference at the weekend, the pair made the same leap of faith Labour wants Tory voters to take. He said: “What better message-carrier could we have for those voters than the doctor who has concluded that only Labour can be trusted with the NHS, and the MP for Dover who has judged that only Labour has serious solutions to tackling the small boats crisis?”