A Conservative MP has sensationally defected to the Labour party moments before Boris Johnson took to the floor for Prime Minister's Questions.
Bury South MP Christian Wakeford, who was only elected in 2019, abandoned the Tories for Labour after Boris Johnson was accused of lying over a BYOB party in Downing Street.
He had been one of seven Tory MPs to publicly express no confidence in the PM - with dozens more sending letters secretly.
In a historic letter, he told the PM: "You and the Conservative Party as a whole have shown themselves incapable of offering the leadership and government this country deserves".
Mr Wakeford's Bury South seat had elected a Labour MP at every election since 1997, before he won in 2019.
Welcoming the new Labour MP, Labour leader Keir Starmer said: "I would like to welcome Christian Wakeford to the Labour Party. He has always put the people of Bury South 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.
“People across Britain faces a cost of living crisis but this incompetent Tory government is asleep at the wheel, distracted by a chaos of its own making.
"Meanwhile families, businesses and pensioners are suffering from the Conservative failure to tackle rising food, fuel and energy prices."
Labour has been in discussion with Mr Wakeford about switching sides for "some time", a spokesman said, adding that discussions had been underway for "a while".
The negotiations "pre-date" Partygate.
A spokesman signalled there would not be a by-election, and a decision about whether Mr Wakeford will stand for Labour at next election was a "question obviously for further down the line" - but Labour does not have a candidate for the seat.
Keir Starmer is understood to have met Mr Wakeford on Monday to discuss the defection.
Huge cheers were heard in the Commons as Mr Wakeford took his place on the Labour benches.
Mr Starmer "warmly welcomed" Mr Wakeford, adding: "The Labour Party has changed - and so has the Conservative Party.”
And he goaded Boris Johnson by saying other Tories who believed in “decency” were welcome to defect.
But raging Mr Johnson said he's staying to the next election.
The PM roared in the Commons: "The Conservative Party won Bury South for the first time in generations under this Prime Minister, with an agenda of uniting and levelling up and delivering for the people of Bury South.
"And we will win again in Bury South at the next election under this Prime Minister.”
The PM's press secretary said she was not aware of any further impending defections of Tory MPs.
Asked why he had quit the party, she said: "I think more broadly, obviously, the Prime Minister understands the anger and the hurt that these ongoing allegations have caused across the country and in Parliament and that's why he's addressed these allegations where he has been able to, and why we are having an investigation to establish the full facts of what has happened."
She added: "The Conservative Party was elected on an incredibly ambitious manifesto in 2019 and that is what we will continue working together to achieve."
Asked about reports that Mr Wakeford had been threatened by Tory whips with having his seat boundary changed, but she said: "I'm not aware of that."
Asked whether there should be a by-election in Bury South, she added: "I think that that is up to the constituents of Bury South."
Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries reacted to Mr Wakeford's defection on Twitter saying: "Sadly, [he] has yet to realise that the Union Jack mask he is wearing to cross the floor to Labour is not welcome on that side of the house."
The Prime Minister was flanked in the Commons by Home Secretary Priti Patel, Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab and Chancellor Rishi Sunak.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, touted as a potential Tory leader, was no where to be seen during PMQs, as the PM battled for his political life.
Senior Tory MP and former Brexit Secretary David Davis called on the PM to resign.
He said in the Commons: "I spent weeks and months defending the Prime Minister against often angry constituents.
“I’ve reminded them of his success in delivering Brexit and the vaccines and many other things.
“But I expect my leaders to shoulder the responsibility for the actions they take.
“Yesterday, he did the opposite of that.
“So I’ll remind him of a quotation altogether too familiar to him of Leo Amery to Neville Chamberlain.
“You have sat there too long for all the good you have done. In the name of God, go.”
The PM said in response: “I must say to him, I don’t know what he is talking about.
“What I can tell him – I don’t know what quotation he is alluding to – what I can tell him is and I think have told this House repeatedly, I take full responsibility for everything done in this Government and throughout the pandemic.”
Labour MP Diana Johnson told the Commons Mr Johnson is busy trying to convince people that “he is stupid rather than dishonest”.
Mr Wakeford had been one of seven Tory MPs publicly calling for Mr Johnson to quit.
Just last week Mr Wakeford aimed at the PM on Twitter calling for "openness, trust and honesty" in politics which "starts from the top".
"How do you defend the indefensible? You can’t!" he said on Twitter.
“It’s embarrassing and what’s worse is it further erodes trust in politics when it’s already low.
“We need openness, trust and honesty in our politics now more than ever and that starts from the top!”
Christian Wakeford's letter in full
Dear Prime Minister,
I am writing to inform you of my decision to resign from the Conservative Party and apply to join the Labour Party.
From today I will be sitting as the Labour MP for Bury South because I have reached the conclusion that the best interests of my constituents are served by the programme put forward by Keir Starmer and his party.
I care passionately about the people of Bury South and I have concluded that the policies of the Conservative government that you lead are doing nothing to help the people of my constituency and indeed are only making the struggles they face on a daily basis worse.
Britain needs a government focused on tackling the cost of living crisis and providing a path out of the pandemic that protects living standards and defends the security of all. It needs a government that upholds the highest standards of integrity and probity in public life and sadly both you and the Conservative Party as a whole have shown themselves incapable of offering the leadership and government this country deserves.
Being elected as MP for Bury South was the proudest day of my life. I care passionately about the area and will always be grateful to those who have supported me. Today, however, I am in no doubt that they will be better served by my joining a party that genuinely has their interests at heart.
I have wrestled with my conscience for many months, and you will know that I have made my policy misgivings clear on many occasions in private and sometimes in public. I can no longer support a government that has shown itself consistently out of touch with the hard working people of Bury South and the country as a whole.
Under Keir Starmer, the Labour Party is back firmly in the centre of British politics, in touch with working people, and ready to provide an alternative government that this country can be proud of, and not embarrassed by.
My decision is about much more than your leadership and the disgraceful way you have conducted yourself in recent weeks. 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.
I will always put the people of Bury South first and will continue to speak out for the changes the area needs. Changes that can only be delivered by a Labour government with Keir Starmer.
Yours,
Christian Wakeford
