How far will Keir Starmer go for power?
Decision to admit right-wing MP into the party aligns with Labour's plan to woo former Tory voters
![Photo composite of Labour leader Keir Starmer](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/HJrgPFBRAPwuWu5rHzzx58-415-80.jpg)
Keir Starmer's decision to admit the right-wing Conservative MP Natalie Elphicke into into the Labour Party has been met with "bewilderment" by many of his MPs, with others suggesting it underlines the lengths he's willing to go to in order to win power.
The second defection to Labour in less than two weeks – after Dan Poulter quit the Tories last month — left Starmer "delighted". He told reporters it showed Labour was "the party of the national interest".
Dover MP Elphicke's surprise defection, announced just minutes before Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday, has "prompted reactions ranging from delight to anger" from her new Labour colleagues, said the BBC.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
![https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516-320-80.jpg)
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
What did the commentators say?
Starmer's decision to welcome the ex-Tory MP is symbolic of the Labour leadership's "new mantra", said Patrick Maguire in The Times. It doesn't matter what might make your MPs uncomfortable, instead "Be The Voter", and with it "demonstrate that you are aligned with The Voter's values".
And not just any voter. This particular one is "a Leave-voting man in provincial England who backed Johnson over Corbyn in 2019". Because, as the local elections have now made "painfully clear" for Downing Street, "they are no longer voting Conservative".
"The point of Natalie Elphicke's unlikely membership of Dover and Deal CLP [constituency Labour Party] is as simple as that," said Maguire. "Be The Voter. Let them hear you are so serious about small boats that the MP for small boats thinks you have a better plan than Sunak." This week has shown just how far Starmer will go "to empathise with The Voter".
It's easy to imagine the "glee" that Starmer's team felt when Elphicke told them she wanted to defect to Labour, said Owen Jones in The Guardian. Right-wing Tory figures such as Jacob Rees-Mogg or Priti Patel "would not be unfair comparisons" to Elphicke. And if a Tory MP of Elphick's political persuasion "wants a spot in Labour's tent" then "nobody can accuse Starmer of harbouring some secret lefty agenda", said Jones.
Although Elphicke won't be seeking re-election as a Labour MP, it's clear what her gesture means, said Jones. In her parting statement she lauded Boris Johnson's Conservative Party for occupying the "centre ground", suggesting that this is where Starmer has moved to. "Elphicke, in other words, believes that Starmer is the true inheritor of the mantle of Johnson."
As Labour prepares for power it has been making further efforts to appeal to business, making changes to its "New Deal for Working People" – but risking the ire of Starmer's union backers.
Several of the key pledges in the policy document, originally spearheaded by deputy leader Angela Rayner in 2021, have now been "weakened", said the Financial Times, which has seen the new document set to be unveiled later this month. Labour has said the changes were part of efforts to put party policies "into a form that our candidates can campaign on".
But Sharon Graham, general secretary of Unite the Union, Labour's biggest single donor during the past decade, said the document was "totally unrecognisable from the original proposals produced with the unions. Workers will see through this and mark the retreat after retreat as a betrayal."
"It is no secret that Labour have been trying to market themselves as the party of business," said Nimo Omer in The Guardian's First Edition newsletter. Starmer and his shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves have been "wooing the City for quite some time in order to hammer home the message that Labour can be trusted with the economy".
Labour is due to meet union leaders next week to go through the document, yet the move is likely to do little for the party's reputation "for u-turning and ditching policies when it looks politically convenient", said Omer.
What next?
Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting defended Starmer's decision to accept Elphicke and told The Independent that he had spoken to other Tory MPs about defecting to Labour.
But he said the party would not accept every Tory who might want to switch allegiances. "If Liz Truss were to want to cross the floor, and I don't imagine she would, I would rather take the lettuce," he told the paper.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Sorcha Bradley is a writer at The Week and a regular on “The Week Unwrapped” podcast. She worked at The Week magazine for a year and a half before taking up her current role with the digital team, where she mostly covers UK current affairs and politics. Before joining The Week, Sorcha worked at slow-news start-up Tortoise Media. She has also written for Sky News, The Sunday Times, the London Evening Standard and Grazia magazine, among other publications. She has a master’s in newspaper journalism from City, University of London, where she specialised in political journalism.
-
One Aldwych: where London's creative spirit takes centre stage
The Week Recommends This five-star Covent Garden hotel is the epitome of elegant independence
By Julia O'Driscoll, The Week UK Published
-
Charlotte Dujardin and equestrianism's dark side
In the Spotlight Olympic gold medallist and dressage star's suspension over horse whipping brings abuse in horse sports back into the spotlight
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Why Roman epic Those About to Die has split the critics
Talking Point Sword and sandals miniseries starring Anthony Hopkins puts spectacle above story
By Irenie Forshaw, The Week UK Published
-
For God and country: is religion in politics making a comeback?
Talking Point There are many MPs of faith in the new Labour government despite it being the most openly secular House of Commons in history
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
How Biden's enablers may have delayed his bowing out
Talking Points Joe Biden's inner circle faces calls for a reckoning for allegedly shielding the president — and the public — from questions of aging and electoral viability
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
King's Speech: is Keir Starmer being too cautious?
Today's Big Question The Labour Party set out its plans for its first year in government
By Richard Windsor, The Week UK Published
-
Are down-ticket Democrats doomed?
Talking Points President Joe Biden's refusal to step back from his reelection campaign has some local Democrats wondering if their own races are in trouble — but not everyone is worried
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump's attempted assassination becomes a potent political force in a single striking image
In The Spotlight Associated Press photographer Evan Vucci may have captured the most consequential photograph of 21st century politics
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Labour's first week in power
In the Spotlight The NHS, prisons and housing are at the top of a to-do list which risks crashing into 'wall of economic reality'
By The Week UK Published
-
'Even with the incumbency factor, the center-left can win and win big'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
'Might sound too good to be true'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published