Just last year, Natalie Elphicke gave a scathing assessment Work Party policy on the influx of migrants arriving across the Channel in small boats, an issue close to her heart as MP for Dover.
She published a fake photo of Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer She stood next to a door with a 'Welcome' sign, which led onto a beach in her constituency.
“The facts are clear,” she said in the accompanying press release. 'Labour doesn't want to hold back the small boats. This is Labour's small boat policy. Supporting people smugglers over the British people.
'On every occasion Labor has voted against the small boats Rwanda Bill. That is why the Government's Stop The Boats Bill is so important, and why Labour's attempts to undermine it are so dangerous.”
Natalie Elphicke with husband Charlie arrives at Southwark Crown Court in London where he stands trial accused of three counts of sexually assaulting two women
But just over 12 months later, in a display of breathtaking political opportunism, Ms Elphicke, 53, has switched to Labor – an organization she has destroyed at every opportunity over the past five years – knowing that she has committed herself to the Rwanda legislation, even if it acts as a deterrent.
In reality, many Tory MPs were happy to see Ms Elphicke's back. And veteran Tory MP Steve Baker isn't the only one surprised that Labor would even want her to join their ranks.
He said: “I have searched in vain for a Conservative MP who thinks he is to the right of Natalie Elphicke. One joked to me, “I didn't know there was room on her right side.”
Ms Elphicke's parliamentary career has been shrouded in controversy since the day she was first named as the Tory candidate for Dover, just a month before the December 2019 general election.
Her appointment was highly unusual as she took over the seat from her husband Charlie, who was forced to resign after being charged with three counts of assaulting two women. When Charlie was initially suspended by the Tories in 2017, his wife supported him, claiming the measure was 'a threat to British values' and an 'injustice'. She then attended her husband's subsequent trial every day.
But as time went on, she became embroiled in a bewildering series of flip-flops.
When Charlie was sentenced to two years in prison in September 2020 after being found guilty on all three counts, she announced that their 25-year marriage – which had produced a son and a daughter – was over. Not surprising given the judge's scathing comments when she sentenced him.
Sir Keir Starmer with former Conservative MP Natalie Elphicke in his parliamentary office in the House of Commons
“This was a campaign of intimidation,” said Mrs Justice Whipple. “You are a sexual predator who used your success and prestige as a cover and told a lot of lies.”
And so when Mrs Elphicke made a stunningly abrupt U-turn and brutally and publicly tormented her husband's victims, even loyal supporters of her Dover constituency were stunned.
Despite the judge's brutal verdict, she claimed he was punished for being “attractive and drawn” to women, making him “an easy target for dirty politics and false accusations.”
She even tried and failed to overturn his conviction, a bid that resulted in her having to apologize to the House of Representatives for improperly trying to influence the judge over her husband's trial by senior judges to write on Commons letterhead – and a one-day suspension. of Parliament.
At the time, David Lammy, now shadow foreign secretary, led the criticism, saying: 'This is a total disgrace. Tory MPs try to influence judges to protect one of their own. The Conservatives really think it's one rule for them and another for everyone else.'
Ms Elphicke's post on X reads: 'Labour supports people smugglers over the British people'
However, by 2021, she had clearly reconsidered and filed for divorce. Since then, she has never been far from controversy. To the horror of Labor MPs and many Tories, she voted in June 2020 to criminalize abortion in Northern Ireland.
A month later, she further embarrassed the Tories when she criticized Manchester United and England footballer Marcus Rashford after he missed a crucial penalty in the Euro 2020 final.
She sent a private message to Tory MPs suggesting Rashford should stick to his day job rather than calling on the government to take action through free school meals and campaigning against food poverty for children.
Ms Elphicke was accused of sheer hypocrisy after it emerged she had a second job as chair of a housing board.
Her comments also sparked an angry response from the Labor high command. Angela Rayner, the Labor deputy, called Ms Elphicke “disgusting” and “as low as it gets”, while Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, bluntly said Ms Elphicke should “fuck off”.
Labor MPs speculated yesterday how Rayner and Reeves will react if Ms Elphicke attends the weekly meeting of the parliamentary Labor Party. The Labor left was equally shocked.
But it is her comments about illegal migration that cause the most concern.
Last year she told Parliament that migrants arriving after crossing the Channel had used razor blades to 'damage and destroy their own fingerprints to prevent identification'.
She also criticized the “hand-wringing human rights industry” and skewed reporting on illegal migration by the “left-wing media and the BBC.” She even mocked Sir Keir, the man who is now her party leader, as 'Sir Softie'.
A senior Labor source says there is deep disquiet over Starmer's reception of Ms Elphicke.
They said, 'She's going to resign at the next election, so what's the point? She is attention seeking and has had 15 minutes of cheap publicity. Mrs. Reeves spoke for all of us when she delivered the four letters.
“This is too great an apostasy that will haunt us.”