Towards a wave of defections following “Partygate”? Here is one already: British MP Christian Wakeford announced on Wednesday that he was leaving the Conservative Party to join the opposition Labour, a setback for Prime Minister Boris Johnson in the midst of the holiday scandal in Downing Street.
“You and the Conservative Party as a whole have failed to deliver the leadership and government that this country deserves,” said the MP for Bury South, a constituency in the north of England, minutes before an intervention by the Prime Minister in Parliament.
Labor welcomed the elected official in a tweet.
“BoJo” on an ejection seat
This defection comes as the Conservative Prime Minister finds himself in an ejection seat when addressing government questions in Parliament on Wednesday, weakened by the rebellion of young elected members of his majority exasperated by the holiday scandal in Downing Street. According to the British press, around 20 young Tories – from constituencies won from the Labor Party in the 2019 legislative elections – met on Tuesday to discuss a vote of no confidence in Boris Johnson and believe they have gathered enough votes to overthrow him.
To oust him from the leadership of the Conservative party – and thereby from Downing Street – at least 54 Tories would have to send a letter to the “1922 committee” demanding a vote of no confidence. For the moment, seven deputies had acknowledged having taken this step, but about thirty would have done so according to the press, which wonders if the bar will be reached with the revolt of the young elected officials of the “plot of the pork pie “, so nicknamed because this pork pie is a specialty of the constituency of one of these elected officials.
Christian Wakeford was one of seven MPs to publicly call for a vote of no confidence in Johnson, and his constituency is among those snatched from Labor in the 2019 general election.
Labor leader Keir Starmer welcomed him on Wednesday, showing him sitting with other MPs on his side in the House of Commons on Wednesday. “As Christian said, the policies of the Conservative Government do nothing to help the people of Bury South and only make the struggles they face on a daily basis worse,” he said. “The Conservative Party won Bury South for the first time in generations under this Prime Minister (…) and we will win again in the next legislative elections,” replied Boris Johnson.