Natalie Elphicke's defection may have caused a stir, but in the longer term it might just be a masterstroke.
When the MP for Dover announced her decision to cross the floor yesterday, just minutes before the PM stood up at the despatch box to face Sir Keir Starmer for PMQs, it was clear that the move was designed to cause maximum impact and destruction.
Giving the PM just a matter of seconds to prepare a response, Starmer could barely contain his glee at having pinched one of Sunak's MPs. And not just any MP, but one on the right of the party.
But it hasn't just caused turbulence for Sunak - if anything it has caused more criticism to be directed at Labour. Questions are being asked about Starmer's judgement in accepting Elphicke.
Natalie Elphicke's defection may have caused a stir, but in the longer term it might just be a masterstroke
PA
The MP for Dover, who was elected in 2019, took over from her husband who was jailed for two years in September 2020 for sexually assaulting two women.
After his conviction, Elphicke claimed the allegations were "false", saying he had been punished for being "charming, wealthy, charismatic and successful".
She was on the right of the Tory party, supporting Liz Truss in the 2022 leadership contest and being a member of the pro-Brexit European Research Group.
Reacting to her defection, Labour MP Sarah Champion expressed concern over "some of the things Mrs Elphicke had said defending her ex-husband from the sexual abuse allegations", which she said "don't sit well with me at all".
Meanwhile, former Labour leader Lord Kinnock warned Starmer against accepting everyone into the party.
He told the BBC: "I think we have got to be choosy to a degree about who we allow to join our party because it's a very broad church but churches have walls and there are limits."
The decision to allow Elphicke into Labour has upset people across the party.
But once the dust settles, her defection could be a win for Starmer.
Although it looks to be an embarrassing U-turn for Elphicke herself, her track record as a vocal critic of the opposition might just help to persuade voters of Starmer's argument that the party truly has changed.
Her resignation letter was a brutal indictment of Sunak's leadership, with the MP accusing the Prime Minister of failing to "keep our borders safe and secure", as well as "failing to build the homes we need".
Some voters on the right of the party might just think, if even Natalie Elphicke is saying Labour is the better option, it must be true.
It could just be the evidence true blue Tory voters need to persuade them to tick Labour on their ballot paper.
The other important detail is that Elphicke is not standing for re-election this year. Labour will still stand their selected candidate, Mike Tapp, in Dover - meaning that all the controversy Elphicke has attracted is likely to have an expiry date of whenever Sunak calls the election.
So while the last 24 hours has certainly been painful for Starmer, once the media storm has moved on Elphicke's defection could just turn out to be a masterstroke.
