UK politics – live: Nadhim Zahawi to step down as MP at general election as Elphicke defection faces backlash
LIVE – Updated at 10:17
Conservative MP Nadhim Zahawi has announced he is stepping down at the next general election.
The MP for Stratford-on-Avon made the announcement on Thursday morning, posting a resignation letter on X saying a new “energetic Conservative” will take over. The former chancellor is now the sixty-fourth Tory to announce they are standing down ahead of the forthcoming election.
It comes after Tory MP Natalie Elphicke defected to Labour on Wednesday, crossing the floor of the Commons at the beginning of prime minister’s questions. The surprise move has provoked outcry from MPs in both parties.
In a damning indictment of the government, Ms Elphicke said : “Under Rishi Sunak, the Conservatives have become a byword for incompetence and division.”
But speaking about the defection on Thursday, education secretary Gillian Keegan said Ms Elphicke was a “very odd fit” for the Labour Party considering the Dover and Deal MP’s views on immigration.
Asked if she feared other Tory MPs could follow and defect, Ms Keegan told Times Radio that she hoped most of her other colleagues were “more principled than that”.
Key Points
- Former chancellor Nadhim Zahawi to stand down at next election
- Labour face angry backlash over Tory defector’s ‘gaslighting’ women’s rights record
- Education Secretary said Natalie Elphicke was a “very odd fit” for Labour
- Rishi Sunak ‘to blame’ for Conservative exodus, senior Tory member says
Labour face angry backlash over Tory defector’s ‘gaslighting’ women’s rights record
10:14 , Sam Rkaina
Natalie Elphicke’s defection to Labour has raised concerns among some in Keir Starmer’s party who condemned her defence of her former husband who was imprisoned after being charged with sexual assault.
After Charlie Elphicke was found guilty of three counts of sexual assault against two women, the MP for Dover said he had been punished for being “attractive” and being “attracted to women”.
Ms Elphicke, who defected to the Labour Party on Wednesday, was temporarily suspended from the Commons in 2021 for trying to influence his trial and was forced to apologise.
Charlotte Cornell, a Labour councillor who ran against Ms Elphicke in Dover in 2019, told The Independent: “Her comments minimised what was predatory behaviour and sexual abuse.
“It is one of the reasons I find today really hard to understand. I know there will be women in the local area who are incredibly upset by today’s decision.”
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Rishi Sunak ‘to blame’ for Conservative exodus, senior Tory member says
10:12 , Salma Ouaguira
Tees Valley Mayor Lord Ben Houchen blamed the Prime Minister for the Tory “chaos” and said Conservatives are “fighting each other like rats in a sack”.
The mauling from voters in last week’s contests, losing nearly 5000 council seats, is a testament to the mayhem unfolding inside the party, he said.
Lord Houchen told BBC Radio: “There’s lots of people fighting with each other in the Conservative Party, there are defections going on, and ultimately the public do not vote for parties who are not united and are not presenting a united front and also aren’t talking to the public.
“If they’re fighting with each other like rats in a sack instead of saying to the public ‘this is what we’re going to do for you’, that doesn’t win elections.
“Obviously, it ultimately lies with Rishi but there are lots of people that need to get their act together, stop messing about and start talking to the public about what they can offer them, rather than just fighting with each other.”
09:59 , Sam Rkaina
Education Secretary Gillian Keegan has said Natalie Elphicke was a “very odd fit” for the Labour Party considering the Dover and Deal MP’s views on immigration.
Asked if she feared other Tory MPs could follow and defect, Ms Keegan told Times Radio that she hoped most of her other colleagues were “more principled than that”.
She said it was not clear what deal Ms Elphicke had made to cross the floor to Labour and there is “all kinds of speculation” as to why she would do so.
She told LBC of Ms Elphicke: “Her principles and her policies, and her positions, have changed as often as Keir Starmer’s.
“I don’t really know her, she’s much more on the right of the party. I think somebody said they couldn’t find anyone more right-wing than Natalie Elphicke.
“So, I don’t really know her very well but clearly she has had a massive 180 degree change in some of her views miraculously, I guess overnight, and I’m not 100% sure how you can change your views and principles that quickly.”
Sir Keir Starmer welcomed Natalie Elphicke to the Labour Party (PA Wire)
Former chancellor Nadhim Zahawi to stand down at next election
09:58 , Sam Rkaina
Former chancellor and education secretary Nadhim Zahawi has announced he will not stand at the next general election.
The MP for Stratford-on-Avon revealed the news in a resignation letter posted to X, formerly Twitter.
He said: “After 14 years in Parliament, and multiple roles in Cabinet and Government, I have come to the decision not to stand again at the next general election.”
Mr Zahawi said he would continue to serve his constituents until the next election and that “the Prime Minister, and the Conservative Party, will continue to have my unswerving support into and beyond the next general election”.
He said was proud that his constituents could confide in him, adding: “Whether they are struggling against the dead hand of bureaucracy, or are stricken by tragedy, being able to help them in their time of need remains one of the most meaningful things I have ever done”.
Mr Zahawi was education secretary from September 2021 to July 2022 and had a short stint as chancellor of the exchequer between July and September 2022.
In 2023, Rishi Sunak sacked Mr Zahawi as Tory Party chairman after an ethics inquiry found he had broken the Ministerial Code several times over his tax affairs.
Mr Zahawi is the 65th Tory MP – out of a total of 344 Conservatives in the Commons – to have announced they will not stand at the next election.