'We need a new Government': Former Conservative MP Mark Logan defects to Labour
30 May 2024, 17:46 | Updated: 30 May 2024, 18:33
Former Conservative MP Mark Logan has said he is backing Labour at the next general election, saying the party could "bring back optimism into British life".
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Mr Logan, who represented Bolton North East for the Tories until Parliament dissolved on Thursday, said Labour had been on a "journey" and now offered "centrist politics".
He told the BBC the Tory Party was "unrecognisable" from the party he joined a decade ago.
He said his application to join Labour was "going in today", describing Sir Keir Starmer's party as having been on a "journey" and now offering "centrist politics".
He told the broadcaster: "I believe, as a politician, it's incumbent upon me to be able to say, to look people in the eyes in Bolton and say that I believe that a Labour government is going to serve you better, your interests better, it's going to be better for your pockets, it's better for the economy, it's going to be better for the UK."
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It follows a series of defections during the last Parliament, including the former MP for Dover, Natalie Elphicke, who was on the right of the Tory Party.
Meanwhile, Dan Poulter - another former Tory MP - quit the Tories and crossed the aisle to Labour over the current state of the NHS.
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Mr Logan won his seat from Labour in the 2019 general election with a narrow majority of just 378, making it one of the most marginal in the country.
He was a junior member of the Government, a parliamentary private secretary to ministers in the Department for Work and Pensions.
The defection comes as a row over whether the Labour veteran Diane Abbott will be allowed to stand for the party at the upcoming election.
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It was reported earlier this week that Ms Abbott had the Labour whip restored but would not be allowed to stand under the party banner.
Ms Abbott confirmed this, but the Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said "this is not true" and that "no decision has been taken".
The row deepened earlier today when Sir Keir's deputy, Angela Rayner, said she sees no reason why Ms Abbott cannot stand now the Labour whip has been restored.
