I was delighted by the news that yet another Troy MP has defected to the Labour party, until I discovered who it was.
To say that Natalie Elphicke has had a long and very fast journey to the Labour party is putting it mildly. She was the kind of Tory most Labour die hards use pictures of for darts practise.
There are two sides to any argument and many commentators have pointed out that most people know nothing about her and will just see the headline about a defection and be impressed by that. The other argument is that she is poison and therefore damaging to the Labour brand.
I tend to agree with the latter argument and in fact I think it would have been far better to have had her announce she was joining the Labour party, only to find out they wouldn’t have her. Humiliation being good for the soul.
Still it is a bit rich for the Tory party to say good riddance to her, they have many more like her and far worse; who are straining at the leash to join Reform.
Maybe that would have been the right solution all along, One of those rejection letters that Oxbridge colleges send out along the lines of “Awfully nice of you to apply and all that, but we think your obvious talents wold be better suited to Farage FE College”
The Tory party still takes a beating, Reform doubles its MPs and Labour aren’t left with a bad taste in the mouth.
If Reform would have her, of course.
Economics, trade and Brexit, not necessarily in that order but the dog always comes first.
By Jonty Bloom Media
Disagree with your main argument. Political parties can’t pick and choose their supporters. If she screws up then kick her out but so far all she has been doing is follow her party line albeit with more vigour than many. She’s not standing again and her previous work as a housing advisor on social housing finance may be valuable.