Boris Johnson's party loses MP Wakeford to Labour

Christian Wakeford: dumps UK Consservative Party

Christian Wakeford: dumps UK Consservative Party

In a major blow to embattled British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, a Conservative member of parliament today dramatically defected to Labour.

The defection was announced minutes before Boris Johnson faced questioning by the parliament.

Christian Wakeford announced he was moving to opposition labour as Johnson faced a coup attempt amid the Partygate scandal.

It was the first defection from the Tories to Labour in 15 years, since Quentin Davis jumped ship.

It comes amid claims that Mr Johnson wept as he begged MPs for more time last night.

According to Mail Online, the Bury South MP – who has a wafer-thin 402 majority in the Red Wall seat – had already announced he had put in a letter of no confidence in Mr Johnson.

And in a parting shot to the premier today he branded his leadership ‘disgraceful’ and said he believed Labour would do more to tackle the cost of living crisis.

‘My decision is about much more than your leadership and the disgraceful way you have conducted yourself in recent weeks,’ he wrote.

‘However, I don’t believe all politicians are the same and I do believe in the power of politics to be a force for good. So does Keir Starmer.

‘He has shown that integrity in the way he has led his party on issues that matter to me, not least the vital challenge of combatting antisemitism.’

Sir Keir said Mr Wakeford had always put his constituents ‘first’.

‘As Christian said, the policies of the Conservative government are doing nothing to help the people of Bury South and indeed are only making the struggles they face on a daily basis worse.’

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