Natalie Elphicke is the one time Tory MP who crossed the floor of the House of Commons recently to join the backbenches on Keir Starmer’s side, prompting more than a few raised eyebrows among her new colleagues.

The Dover MP was seen as being on the right of the party – she has backed strionger rules on migtation, and opposed a climate change test for new oil and gas licenses.

So what message does it send that she’s now been embraced by a party that still clings to the notion that it’s left wing.

There’s another curious aspect to the story too…the Sunday Times has alleged that in July 2020 Elphicke tried to persuade former Justice Secretary Robert Buckland to change the judge who was due to try her husband Charlie Elphicke’s case for sexual assault.

Buckland is said to have immediately rejected the idea and Natalie Elphicke denies the claim. But isn’t it convenient for the Conservatives that this story didn’t appear for for four years but then popped out into the open blinking in the harsh glare of publicity the moment she switched to Labour?

Adrian Goldberg talks to Byline Times Political Editor Adam Bienkov and Mic Wright.

Produced in Birmingham by Adrian Goldberg.

Funded by subscriptions to the Byline Times.

Made by We Bring Audio for Byline Times.

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