A Conservative MP defected the party right in front of Boris Johnson

Phillip Lee defecting.
(Image credit: Screenshot/Twitter/Daniel Kraemer)

The United Kingdom no longer has a working majority in the House of Commons. Conservative MP Phillip Lee defected to the Liberal Democrats on Tuesday right in front of Prime Minister Boris Johnson who was in the middle of addressing MPs.

Lee, who says he joined the Conservative Party 27 years ago and has served as the MP for the Bracknell constituency since 2010, has long been opposed to the U.K.'s departure from the European Union. In a statement, he said Johnson was pursuing a "damaging Brexit" that could "put lives at risk." He also clarified, "I haven't left my party, my party has left me."

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.