Christian Wakeford told Boris Johnson that the Conservatives “have shown themselves incapable of offering” the “government this country deserves”, in a parting shot as he defected to Labour.
But the Bury South MP, who had submitted a letter of no confidence against the prime minister, is not the first to defect to another party due to disagreements with leadership. Here are some famous cases of MPs moving across the political spectrum.
Tory to Liberal Democrats – Sam Gyimah
Wakefield is not even the first MP to leave due to disagreements with Boris Johnson. The former universities minister Sam Gyimah defected to the Liberal Democrats in 2019, accusing Johnson of “veering towards populism and English nationalism”.
The then MP for East Surrey said he had left the Conservatives to fight against the government’s “scorched-earth approach” to delivering Brexit, regardless of the cost to the country.
Labour to Liberal Democrats (via Change UK) – Luciana Berger
Berger had been a member of the Labour party but was critical of the former leader Jeremy Corbyn’s approach to antisemitism and Brexit. In February 2019, members of her local party briefly proposed motions of no confidence in her for “continually” criticising Corbyn.
She went on to join other former Labour and Conservative MPs in forming Change UK, a pro EU party, but left this group in June 2019 to sit as an independent MP, before joining the Liberal Democrats. She stood unsuccessfully for Finchley and Golders Green in the 2019 general election. At the time she left Labour for the Lib Dems she said they were “the strongest party to stop Brexit”.
I am very pleased to announce that I have joined @joswinson and the @LibDems, the strongest party to stop brexit, fight for equality and a fairer country.
— Luciana Berger (@lucianaberger) September 5, 2019
Labour to Change UK – Mike Gapes
Gapes had been a Labour MP for 27 years but left the party due to being unhappy with the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn. For Gapes, foreign policy differences were the major factor, and he accused Corbyn in his resignation letter of taking the “wrong side on so many international issues, from Russia to Syria to Venezuela.”
Similarly to Berger, he joined Change UK. In the December 2019 election, Gapes was defeated by Labour’s Sam Tarry.
Conservatives to Change UK – Anna Soubry
Soubry was among a number of MPs who left their political parties due to Brexit turmoil. When she left the Conservatives she said it was because of her party’s shift to the right and support of leaving the EU.
She became leader of Change UK but lost her seat in the 2019 general election, finishing a distant third.
Conservatives to Labour – Quentin Davies
Wakefield is also not the first Tory MP to defect to Labour. In 2007 Quentin Davies made the move, “delighting” the new Labour leader Gordon Brown. The MP for Grantham and Stamford made his decision after clashing with the then Tory leader, David Cameron.
He wrote that the party seemed “to have ceased collectively to believe in anything, or to stand for anything”. Cameron wrote back to Davies saying: “You have made your choice and the British people will make theirs.”
Conservatives to Ukip – Mark Reckless
The Tory MP for Rochester and Strood was among a number of Conservatives to defect to Ukip in 2014. The Eurosceptic politician said he had not taken the decision lightly but claimed the Conservative leadership was “part of the problem that is holding our country back”.
His announcement came just before the Conservative party conference in Birmingham and was a blow to Cameron at the time. The defection came eight months before the general election.
At the Ukip conference in Doncaster, Reckless said voters felt “ripped off and lied to”, adding: “Today I am leaving the Conservative party and joining Ukip.” He had wanted more action on a European referendum, tax and immigration.
