Jonathan Gullis blasts ‘spineless’ Natalie Elphicke after being left baffled by shock defection: ‘Happy honeymoon love!’

Lambasting her decision as “spineless”, Gullis told Martin Daubney he anticipates a “lonely” stint as a Labour politician for the 53-year-old.

Discussing the footage circulating on social media, he said: “I was in my chair. I normally exchange a smile and a wave at Sir Keir Starmer because I do enjoy heckling him.

“Suddenly I noticed Natalie was sat behind him. The first thing I did was let Gareth Baker know because he is doing an urgent question after PMQs.

“Then I was also looking for the eyes of the whips so they could get the message to Craig Williams, the PPS (Prime Minister's Parliamentary Private Secretary) of Rishi Sunak and the Prime Minister’s office.

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“You are correct, none of us knew until that very moment. I think it shows she is pretty spineless. She didn’t have the guts to announce it before.

“She snuck into the chamber and took a seat and hoped it would go under the radar until Sir Keir would point her out. It’s going to be a very lonely role for her.

“She certainly isn’t going to be trusted or welcomed by many Labour MPs and of course, any friends she had on our bench, those friendships are over.”

Amid a backdrop of sceptical Labour MPs, Elphicke announced her defection and took a swipe at the “tired and chaotic Government” led by the “unelected” Rishi Sunak.

She has previously been very critical of the Labour Party and its leader, Sir Keir Starmer, writing a year ago in a newspaper column that Labour have “no plan of their own to tackle illegal immigration”.

She said Sir Keir, whom she mocked as “Sir Softie”, “has pledged to rip up our world-leading partnership to remove illegal migrants to Rwanda”.

Mocking his former Tory colleague, Gullis said the Labour Party is becoming more than a “broad church” and “you need a number of cathedrals” to accomodate the figures they have plucked from across the political spectrum.

“I just feel sorry for the residents of Dover who had an MP who was in a party that says they want to get flights off to Rwanda, that has done deals with France to stop the boats and deals for returns with countries with Albania”, he said.

“Instead, they now have a Labour politician who will back Sir Keir Starmer’s amnesty that says everyone who is here already are suddenly being granted the chance to stay.

“She has got to look those voters in the face and instead she hasn’t. She has run off scared.

“Excuse my scepticism, but not long ago she was campaigning for a Conservative police crime commissioner in Kent and now is suddenly claiming she has the values of Sir Keir’s Labour Party.

“Now she has to stand shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Angela Rayner, who referred to her as ‘scum’ when she was a Tory and I think Rachel Reeves also told her to ‘f- off’, so happy honeymoon love.”

Elphicke said the “key deciding factors” in her defection were housing issues and “the safety and security of our borders”.

Speaking to reporters in Sir Keir’s parliamentary office after Prime Minister’s Questions, she said: “In 2019, the Conservatives stood on a manifesto that was very much centre ground, but under Rishi Sunak they’ve abandoned the centre ground and broken many election promises.

“Meanwhile, under Keir Starmer, Labour have changed. And I think that change is going to bring a much better future for our country, and that’s why I was so keen to join the Labour Party and play my part in bringing that important future forward.”