Natalie Elphicke defection ‘naked opportunism’, Cameron says, amid claims she interfered in husband’s trial

Natalie Elphicke’s defection to the Labour Party was “naked opportunism”, David Cameron has said.

The foreign secretary criticised his former Conservative colleague over her decision to cross the floor of the House of Commons, saying: “I am not a fan of defectors. I think it leaves a legacy of upset and betrayal... I thought this was just naked opportunism.”

Lord Cameron told Sky News it would lead to people looking at Labour and thinking: “If you don’t stand for anything, then you will fall for stuff like this.”

It came as a slew of negative stories about Ms Elphicke hit the headlines, just days after Sir Keir Starmer welcomed her into the Labour fold.

Sir Robert Buckland has accused her of lobbying him while he was justice secretary in an effort to interfere in her husband’s sex offences trial.

Ms Elphicke allegedly approached Sir Robert before the hearing of Charlie Elphicke’s case, which saw the former MP for Dover jailed over three counts of sexual assault against two women.

Sir Robert said he rejected her plea and suggested that his intervention could undermine the constitutional doctrine of the separation of powers between parliament and the judiciary.

The Tory MP told The Sunday Times: “She was told in no uncertain terms that it would have been completely inappropriate to speak to the judge about the trial at all.”

Adding to the pressure on Labour and Ms Elphicke over the defection, The Observer reported that her fury at not being offered a ministerial post had contributed to the decision.

Senior Tory sources told the paper she had made it clear to Rishi Sunak that she wanted to be a housing minister, with the snub contributing to her decision to cross the floor.

And on Sunday night, Matt Wrack, the president of the Trades Union Congress, claimed Ms Elphicke had voiced support for anti-strike laws, putting her in conflict with the party whip, according to The Guardian. He sent a letter to Sir Keir this weekend, describing the decision to admit the MP as “alarming”.

Lord Cameron said Ms Elphicke is now “a Labour press office problem”, adding that the defection “says a lot more about Keir Starmer’s Labour Party”.

The shock move, announced as MPs filled the Commons for PMQs on Wednesday, sparked fury among Labour ranks.

Backbenchers and shadow ministers questioned Ms Elphicke’s past defence of her ex-husband, who she said had been punished for being “attractive” and being “attracted to women”.

She was previously suspended from the Commons for trying to influence her husband’s trial. Shadow paymaster general Jonathan Ashworth said that if Sir Robert has evidence to substantiate his claim, he should publish it, but stressed that Ms Elphicke has denied the accusation.

Mr Ashworth told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg that her defection showed “the extent to which we are witnessing a disintegrating and decaying Conservative government”.

Ms Elphicke was forced to issue a fresh apology on Thursday for the comments she made about her husband’s victims.

She described the period between 2017 and 2020 as “an incredibly stressful and difficult one for me as I learned more about the person I thought I knew”.

She added: “I know it was far harder for the women who had to relive their experiences and give evidence against him.

“I have previously, and do, condemn his behaviour towards other women and towards me. It was right that he was prosecuted and I’m sorry for the comments that I made about his victims.”

Her defection caused panic among Tory MPs and left them wondering who could be next to cross the floor, with Ms Elphicke becoming the third Conservative to switch to Labour during this parliament.

Shadow health secretary Wes Streeing told The Independent he is in talks with other Conservatives who are thinking of joining Labour.

A spokesperson for Ms Elphicke described suggestions that she had lobbied the justice secretary on her ex-husband’s behalf as “nonsense”.

They said: “It’s certainly true that Mr Elphicke continued to be supported after his imprisonment by a large number of Conservative MPs who had known him for a long time, including some who visited him and independently lobbied on his behalf, which was nothing to do with Natalie.”

Concerning the encounter with Sir Robert, a Labour Party spokesperson said: “Natalie Elphicke totally rejects that characterisation of the meeting.

“If Robert Buckland had any genuine concerns about the meeting, then he should have raised them at the time, rather than making claims to the newspapers now that Natalie has chosen to join the Labour Party.”

Announcing her decision to switch parties, Ms Elphicke hit out at Mr Sunak’s “tired and chaotic government” and accused him of failing to deliver on his promise to “stop the boats”, adding that Labour would “bring a much better future for our country”.

The defection of Ms Elphicke also sparked a backlash because of her hardline stance on immigration and her past attacks on trade unions.

It led to questions over where Sir Keir would draw the line with potential recruits to Labour. But he said politics should be “less tribal” and suggested that he was open to “reasonably minded people” from other parties joining Labour.

He has now faced calls to give the whip back to Diane Abbott, who was suspended last year after she wrote a letter in which she suggested that Jewish people are not subjected to the same sort of racism as some other minorities.

Labour peer Shami Chakrabarti told The Independent: “Like others, I look forward to Ms Elphicke’s first in-depth broadcast interview about her political journey to the Labour Party.

“In the meantime, if the tent is big enough for her, I feel sure that Britain’s first Black woman MP, who has sustained more racist and misogynist abuse than anyone, will have her whip restored urgently.”