The mental health doctor, who was elected as a Tory MP in 2010, said the Conservatives had become a “nationalist party of the right”, and no longer prioritised the NHS
Tory MP Dan Poulter has defected to the Labour Party saying he can no longer “look people in the eye.”
The former health minister, who was elected as a Tory MP in 2010, told the Observer the Conservatives had become a “nationalist party of the right”, and no longer prioritised the NHS.
He does not plan to seek re-election as an MP, but would take the Labour whip until then and plans to advise the party on mental health policies.
It’s another blow to Rishi Sunak, just days ahead of an expected pummelling in this week’s local elections.
“The Conservative party ’s values have changed over the past eight years,” he told the Observer. “The values of the Conservative party under David Cameron were different values and the priorities were very different. David Cameron undoubtedly had a very strong commitment to the NHS.
He added: “It feels to me that the Tory party has gone from being a pragmatic, centrist, centre-right party which focused on and understood the importance of public service and the state to deliver certain things …and had a compassionate outlook on key issues. It has gone from that and feels like it has become a nationalist party of the right, much more of what we see in Europe.”
He’s the second MP to defect from the Tories since Rishi Sunak took power, after Lee Anderson joined Reform UK last month.
And he’s the second ex-Tory to join Labour since the 2019 election, following Christian Wakeford crossing the floor in 2022.
Dr Poulter told the BBC: “I found it increasingly difficult to look my NHS colleagues in the eye, my patients in the eye, and my constituents in the eye with good conscience.
“I feel the NHS deserves better than it has at the moment in terms of how it’s run and governed.”
He added: “The party I was elected into valued public services, it had a compassionate view about supporting the more disadvantaged in society.
“The Conservative Party today is in a very different place. Its focus is not on delivering or supporting high quality public services.”
Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting said he was “proud” to welcome Dr Poulter to the party.
He tweeted: “As a frontline clinician, he’s seen the damage that 14 years of Conservative government have done to our NHS.
“Delighted to have his support and look forward to working with him, especially on mental health reform.”
