How Can an MP Change Parties and not Quit?
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- čas přidán 8. 05. 2024
- WATCH: How Can an MP Change Parties and not Quit?
Natalie Elphicke MP changed parties . . . so how is she representing the people who voted for her?
This is a re-edit of yesterday's diary.
I think this is one big stunt. She has clearly fallen out with Sunak and the direction he is taking the Tory party, so has taken action to inflict as much damage as possible on Sunak. There can be no more effective way for a politician to show contempt for their party leader than to "cross the house". Her actions were made even more significant by the woeful local election results. I think Starmer has made a mistake in the way he has dealt with the matter, he has taken his eye off the bigger picture by accepting her with open arms and has thereby upset many members of his own party. So Elphicke has cleverly delivered a blow to both main party leaders and given her decision to stand down at the next election she will walk off into the sunset leaving total chaos behind her.
Parties are not part of your electoral system. In your system you elect individual MP's, not parties. In theory she continues to represent the people she's been chosen by, just under a different color. Of course things have changed over the years and in practice what you say is valid. These days parties provide a lot of help to MP's and in return they expect the MP's to adhere to the party line.
I don't think moral standards are something mrs. Elphicke has ever been concerned with though. If she could even recognize one if it flew by her.
In reality, candidates are selected to stand by local party organisations, so she was described as Natalie Elphicke, the Conservative candidate -