Dan Poulter quits Tories and joins Labour in huge blow for Rishi Sunak ahead of elections
Sir Keir Starmer and Wes Streeting welcomed the news on social media.
Dan Poulter defects from The Conservatives to Labour
A Tory MP and former health minister has defected to Labour in a huge blow to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Dr Dan Poulter, a working medic, has quit Rishi Sunak’s party saying it is “failing” on the NHS.
Dr Poulter detailed his reasons for leaving the Tories in an article for The Observer, while he has also given an interview to the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg.
The MP for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich said that Conservatives were no longer focused on public services.
“I find it increasingly difficult to look my NHS colleagues in the eye”
— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) April 27, 2024
Former Conservative minister and MP Dr Dan Poulter has quit his party to join Labour. He tells #BBCLauraK he believes that Keir Starmer can be trusted to run public serviceshttps://t.co/CkTHGctZ4k pic.twitter.com/Z1ko5P1InP
He told the BBC: "I found it increasingly difficult to look my NHS colleagues in the eye, my patients in the eye, and my constituents in the eye with good conscience.
"The difficulty for the Conservative Party is that the party I was elected into valued public services. It had a compassionate view about supporting the more disadvantaged in society. I think the Conservative Party today is in a very different place."
He did not attack Rishi Sunak but argued that the Labour Party and Sir Keir Starmer could be trusted to run the NHS and the country.
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Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting congratulated the new Labour MP on his decision, posting on social media site X: “Proud to welcome Dr Dan Poulter MP to the @UKLabour Party.
“As a frontline clinician, he’s seen the damage that 14 years of Conservative government have done to our NHS.
“Delighted to have his support and look forward to working with him, especially on mental health reform.”
Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer added: "It’s fantastic to welcome Dr Dan Poulter MP to today’s changed Labour Party. It’s time to end the Conservative chaos, turn the page, and get Britain’s future back.
"I’m really pleased that Dan has decided to join us on this journey."
Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves added: "Welcome Dr Dan Poulter MP. More and more people are turning to Labour to change our country for the better."
Downing Street has been told of his decision when the news broke and is yet to respond.
Dr Poulter, who was first elected in 2010, said he would sit as a Labour MP until the general election and then stand down from politics.
He is the third MP to defect from the Tories since 2019. Lee Anderson joined Reform last month while Christian Wakeford left the Conservatives for the Labour Party in 2022.