Exclusive:Natalie Elphicke: Carla Denyer urges unhappy Labour members to join Greens after defection controversy

The Greens’ co-leader has urged Labour members unhappy with the Natalie Elphicke defection to join her party.

Carla Denyer sent out the rallying call after the former Tory MP for Dover dramatically crossed the floor ahead of Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday (8 May). Elphicke was the second Conservative to defect to Labour in as many weeks, catching Rishi Sunak completely off guard.

While Keir Starmer was cock-a-hoop at PMQs, gloating that “the Prime Minister ‘cannot be trusted’ with our borders”, the reaction from Labour members has been more mixed. Elphicke was seen as occupying the right of the Tories, with many thinking she was more likely to move to Reform. One member simply told NationalWorld: “I don’t want her in my party.”

And now Denyer has urged Labour members, unhappy with the switch, to do some defecting of their own. She told NationalWorld: "At a time when other parties are losing members hand over fist, we have been increasing our membership. That reflects our message of hope and our vision of a fairer, greener country.

"This sort of decision by the Labour leadership will shock many of its supporters and, I hope, encourage many thousands more voters to come our way, attracted to a party that has principles and values that it sticks to."

Elphicke in particular is in the spotlight for comments she made after her former husband and predecessor as MP for Dover Charlie Elphicke was convicted in 2020 of sexually assaulting two women and sentenced to two years in prison.

She ended the marriage after his conviction but supported his unsuccessful appeal, saying her ex-husband had been “attractive, and attracted to women” and “an easy target for dirty politics and false allegations”. She was also suspended, along with three other MPs, from the House of Commons for a day for trying to influence the judge in his trial.

Elphicke also said that footballer Marcus Rashford should have spent more time perfecting his game and less time on politics after missing his penalty in the Euros final that England lost. Labour has said Elphicke has apologised for those comments, and that she is a “good fit” for the party.

There is undoubted disquiet among members over the move. Denyer will be hoping this can help her unseat Labour big beast Thangam Debboinaire in the new seat of Bristol Central come the next election. In the locals last week, the Greens added 10 new councillors in the city and usurped Labour as the controlling party. All of Bristol Central’s wards now have Green Party representatives.

When NationalWorld visited the city ahead of polling day, many new members were ex-Jeremy Corbyn supporters who had quit Labour in anger. Colin Gillie, 56, who had joined the party in January, said the war in Gaza, the U-turn on the child benefit cap and the references to Thatcher all put him off Starmer.“We need some ambition,” he told NationalWorld.

Rebecca Bentley-Price, 25, also joined the party in January, said she got into politics because of Jeremy Corbyn, but couldn’t stick with Labour after its slow calls for a ceasefire in Gaza. “I’ve got to go with my principles,” explained.

Elsewhere around the country, on polling day, the Greens gained a record number of councillors. The party won its first representative in Newcastle, with the voting put down to the Gaza conflict, and became the largest party in Hastings.

Ralph Blackburn is NationalWorld’s politics editor based in Westminster, where he gets special access to Parliament, MPs and government briefings. If you liked this article you can follow Ralph on X (Twitter) here and sign up to his free weekly newsletter Politics Uncovered, which brings you the latest analysis and gossip from Westminster every Sunday morning.