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Natalie Elphicke became the second Tory MP in two weeks to cross the floor of the Commons, dealing another major blow to Rishi Sunak.
By Steph Spyro, Environment Editor and Senior Political Correspondent
20:58, Thu, May 9, 2024 | UPDATED: 21:01, Thu, May 9, 2024
Question Time: Fiona asks audience about Elphicke’s defection
Fiona Bruce was met with silence when she asked BBC Question Time audience members if they believed Tory defector Natalie Elphicke would be an asset to Labour.
The Question Time host asked the dozens of people attending the show’s recording whether Sir Keir Starmer’s newest MP would bring value to his party.
Not a single person in the audience raised their hand, leaving the host to turn to Lisa Nandy to defend her party’s decision.
Ms Bruce said: “Can I just ask in the interest of balance, whether anyone thinks actually Natalie Elphicke will be an asset to the Labour Party?”
A few seconds passed and no one put up their hand.
Ms Bruce then added: “Ok, not a hand has gone up.”
She then pointed to someone in the audience whom she thought had changed their mind and put up their hand.
The BBC presenter turned to Ms Nandy when the audience members said they did not think the Tory turncoat would be an asset to the Opposition party.
Ms Nandy, Shadow Secretary of State for International Development, defended Sir Keir’s decision to welcome her into the fold.
She said: “It’s a welcome thing she’s crossed over to vote with us to protect people from this Tory havoc.”
Ms Elphicke quit the Conservatives just moments before Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, hitting out at Rishi Sunak’s “tired and chaotic Government” and accusing the Prime Minister of failing to deliver on his promise to “stop the boats”.
But her debut as a Labour MP has not been welcomed by all of her new colleagues, with some raising concerns about her views and comments she made after her former husband and predecessor as MP for Dover Charlie Elphicke was convicted in 2020 of sexually assaulting two women and sentenced to two years in prison.
In a statement on Thursday, Ms Elphicke said she condemned “his behaviour towards other women and towards me”, adding it was “right that he was prosecuted” and she was “sorry for the comments that I made about his victims”.
Ms Elphicke has apologised for comments she made supporting her ex-husband. She said: “The period of 2017 – 2020 was an incredibly stressful and difficult one for me as I learned more about the person I thought I knew. I know it was far harder for the women who had to relive their experiences and give evidence against him.”
Ms Elphicke added: “It is vital that women can have confidence in the criminal justice system and our rates of prosecution and conviction are far too low as a country.
“Keir Starmer’s mission to halve male violence against women and girls is critical and I wanted to take the opportunity to express my explicit support for Labour colleagues working to realise it.”
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