Tag Archives: defection

Mathew Hulbert

Mathew on Monday: Labour has lost its way – and the country is paying the price

By Mathew Hulbert | Mon 9th February 2026 - 4:30 pm

Watching the unfolding political drama in Westminster over recent days, you could be forgiven for wondering if the British public have been dropped into an episode of ‘Yes, Prime Minister’ rather than living real lives under a Labour government. Instead of focusing on the pressing challenges facing everyday Britons – from the cost of living to the NHS crisis – the spotlight has been firmly fixed on internal Labour turmoil, bitter factional rows and the fate of its own leadership.

The resignation on Sunday of Sir Keir Starmer’s Chief of Staff Morgan McSweeney, amid the controversy over Peter Mandelson’s appointment as UK Ambassador to the United States, was always going to make headlines. But the speed with which that story has dominated the political coverage tells you everything you need to know about where Labour’s priorities lie. McSweeney stepped down taking “full responsibility” for advising on the appointment – a move that critics argue has damaged trust in politics itself.

And, as if one senior departure wasn’t enough, the Prime Minister’s director of communications, Tim Allan, has today also quit fewer than twenty-four hours later. In a terse statement, Allan said he was making way for a “new No.10 team.”.

But what the public see is not reinvigoration – it’s retreat, upheaval and instability at the heart of government.

All this comes at a time when families across the country are still struggling with inflationary pressures on essentials and long delays in accessing NHS care. Hard-pressed workers, young people, and pensioners do not wake up each morning thinking about Downing Street personnel changes – they worry about whether their energy bills are manageable, whether their children’s surgeries are being scheduled, or whether their parents will be left waiting hours in A&E.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , and | 14 Comments
Mark Valladares

27 August 2025 – yesterday’s Scottish and Welsh press releases

By Mark Valladares | Thu 28th August 2025 - 7:30 am
  • Cole-Hamilton calls for stronger response to nitazenes ahead of Scottish Drugs Forum
  • Cole-Hamilton: Scotland deserves better than Farage
  • Nigel Farage accused of plan to ‘rip up Welsh countryside’ with fracking
  • Scot Lib Dems comment on Simpson defection
  • Reconviction rate increases among prisoners

Cole-Hamilton calls for stronger response to nitazenes ahead of Scottish Drugs Forum

Speaking ahead of the Scottish Drugs Forum on Wednesday 27th August, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP has called on the SNP government to take strong action on the growing number of drug deaths caused by synthetic opioids such as nitazenes, which can be hundreds of times more powerful than heroin.

In …

Continue reading »
Posted in News, Press releases, Scotland and Wales | Also tagged , , , , , , , and | 1 Comment
Mark Valladares

22 July 2025 – yesterday’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Wed 23rd July 2025 - 11:45 pm
  • Ed Davey: Tougher sanctions needed on Israeli Government now to “stop the carnage” in Gaza
  • Badenoch reshuffle: Titanic captain appoints iceberg apologist to key role
  • Laura Anne Jones’ defection – The Conservatives are clearly dead as a political force in Wales
  • Lib Dems attack “SNP’s dirty secret” as environmental targets look set to be missed
  • Greene comments as west coast ferry faces months out of action

Ed Davey: Tougher sanctions needed on Israeli Government now to “stop the carnage” in Gaza

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey has called on the government to urgently bring in tougher sanctions on the Israeli Government and officials amid a brutal new ground offensive in Gaza, including sanctioning Netanyahu and IDF generals.

Commenting in the wake of fresh Israeli Defence Force (IDF) ground operations in Gaza, Ed Davey called for the UK Government to sanction Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and to begin drawing up plans to sanction individual IDF generals leading the ground and aerial bombing campaigns across the Strip.

Ed Davey also said the UK should halt all arms sales to Israel, including component parts for F-35s. He has called on the Government to stop “ on its hands” while Gaza faces demolition, and commit to “stemming the flow of fighter jet parts to Israel”.

The party’s calls come following additional reports from the World Health Organization (WHO) that its facilities have come under attack during Israel’s fresh offensive in Deir al-Balah.

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey MP said:

The Foreign Secretary must realise that we’re past the point of threatening sanctions. We need sanctions now, including against Netanyahu and the IDF generals leading the military campaigns in Gaza.

Every day the Government sits on its hands, more innocent civilians are being killed while over a million are at risk of starvation. Meanwhile, the hostages held by Hamas are no closer to being freed. This is utterly intolerable.

The Government needs to do everything it can to stop the carnage unfolding in the Strip. That must include stemming the flow of UK fighter jet parts to Israel.

Badenoch reshuffle: Titanic captain appoints iceberg apologist to key role

Commenting on Kemi Badenoch’s ongoing Shadow Cabinet reshuffle, including the appointment of James Cleverly as Shadow Housing Secretary, Lib Dem Cabinet Office spokesperson Sarah Olney said:

Kemi Badenoch has appointed the very man who said that replacing Liz Truss as Prime Minister would be a terrible idea. It’s like appointing an iceberg apologist to a role steering the Titanic.

The public won’t forgive this group of failed former Conservative ministers for the damage they did to our economy and NHS.

It’s no wonder the Conservatives previously pledged to avoid any reshuffle until the election.

Continue reading »
Posted in News, Press releases and Scotland | Also tagged , , , , , , , , and | 2 Comments
Mark Valladares

29 April 2024: Welcome to my day – reminiscences of the Doctor…

By Mark Valladares | Mon 29th April 2024 - 7:30 am

The news that Dr Dan Poulter, the now ex-Conservative MP for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich, has defected to Labour has come as a bit of a shock to many – and let’s face it, how on Earth could it have taken him so long to realise that the current Conservative leadership have no real interest in public services? – but I ought now to admit that the evidence was there as far back as 2010.

As the brand new MP for the constituency, elected that year, he came to the village as part of his “getting to know the patch” efforts – he was an “incomer” from Reigate and Banstead – and I had the opportunity to find out more about his politics. And, in truth, nothing he said then suggested that he would be any less at home in a Clegg-led Liberal Democrat party than in a Cameron-led Conservative Party.

What might have surprised me was that, with an obvious professional alternative – he’ll earn far more working for the NHS and, possibly, in private practice, than he ever would as an MP – he stuck it out in an increasingly alien Conservative Party. And not only that, he voted through a whole plethora of legislation that should surely have troubled him had he remained true to his supposed principles.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , and | 9 Comments
Mark Valladares

11 March 2024 – today’s press releases (part 1)

By Mark Valladares | Mon 11th March 2024 - 11:41 pm

  • Lee Anderson: PM cannot govern his own party let alone the country
  • David Neal: Home Office in a state of disrepair
  • Frank Hester: Sunak must return donations and rule out peerage
  • “Early childcare the key to fighting poverty” – Welsh Lib Dems push for fully integrated childcare system in Wales

Lee Anderson: PM cannot govern his own party let alone the country

Responding to reports that Lee Anderson will defect from the Conservatives to Reform, Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper MP said:

Rishi Sunak’s authority lies in tatters after the man he personally appointed to be Deputy Chairman of the Conservatives has defected to another party. This is a Prime Minister that cannot govern his own party let alone the country.

Even now Sunak is too weak to rule out Nigel Farage joining the Conservative Party. It just shows that there is now hardly a cigarette paper between the Conservative Party and Reform.

David Neal: Home Office in a state of disrepair

Responding to the comments made by the former Independent Borders Inspector David Neal to the BBC, the Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson Alistair Carmichael MP said:

These comments confirm what we already suspected – the Home Office is in a state of total dysfunction and disrepair.

Nothing is working how it should. Now, we don’t even have a Chief Inspector to provide the scrutiny that is so desperately needed.

To think that this Conservative Government can push forward with their failing Rwanda policy while ducking accountability is disgraceful. The Home Office cannot just withhold reports and information that they don’t like.

At the very least, its implementation should be delayed until the Government can get its act together and appoint a Chief Inspector.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , and | Leave a comment
Mark Valladares

Lee Anderson defects to Reform UK – Liberal Democrats respond

By Mark Valladares | Mon 11th March 2024 - 12:20 pm

Whilst you should never be surprised by anything that happens to the Conservative Party these days, this was perhaps one of the more readily predicted events. And, naturally, because you’d have to have a heart of stone not to get some amusement from this, there have been a number of Liberal Democrat responses to the news that Reform UK Ltd has its first MP.

The official response first though…

Wera Hobhouse was quick to point …

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , , , and | 12 Comments
Mark Valladares

UPDATED – two North Shropshire Conservative Councillors defect

By Mark Valladares | Mon 6th December 2021 - 1:04 pm

Well, well, well, what is happening to the Tories in North Shropshire? It is reported this morning that Anthony Allen, a Town Councillor in Market Drayton, has defected to Reclaim, who have claimed him as their first elected councillor.

Now, as a parish councillor myself, describing Mr Allen as a top Tory councillor, as Reclaim have done, is a bit like describing me as a senior figure in Suffolk local government, but it does give the impression of a Conservative campaign in disarray.

As reported by the Independent;

The 54-year-old cab company owner said his former party had “gone soft on illegal immigration,

…

Continue reading »
Posted in News and Parliamentary by-elections | Also tagged , and | 6 Comments
The Voice

Another Conservative defection to the Lib Dems – this time in John Major’s old backyard of Huntingdonshire

By The Voice | Sat 1st February 2014 - 1:00 pm

We reported last week the news that two Conservative Councillors have joined the Liberal Democrats in Winchester.

This week a former Conservative cabinet member at Huntingdonshire District Council, Colin Hyams, has announced he’s walked out on his party to join the Liberal Democrats:

Cllr Hyams said he decided to join the Liberal Democrats because he was impressed by the way they worked for Godmanchester. He said he did not plan to leave the Conservative group on the town council formally, but this would depend on the response from the party.

Liberal Democrat group leader Cllr Mike Baker said: “I respect

…

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , and | 6 Comments
Alex Foster

+++ BREAKING: Conservative MEP defects to Liberal Democrats

By Alex Foster | Fri 12th March 2010 - 3:41 pm

Exciting news live from the LDV Broom Cupboard in Birmingham’s ICC.

News reaches us that Conservative MEP Edward McMillan-Scott has defected to the Liberal Democrats and will be joining us here at party conference.

The MEP said today: “I have been around the higher circles of the Conservative party for long enough to fear that on Europe Cameron says one thing in opposition and will do another in government.

“I have long fought against totalitarianism and the extremism and religious persecution it brings. It was wrong of Cameron to associate with MEPs who have extremist pasts in his new European alliance.”

I guess …

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , and | 28 Comments
Advert

Recent Comments

  • Iain Donaldson
    Matt, I think my article actually agrees with parts of what you are saying. In particular, I accept that housing policy operates over long timescales and that l...
  • Mohamed BENALIA
    A thought-provoking article. The debate over greyhound racing raises important questions about animal welfare, public opinion, and how traditions should evolve...
  • Caracatus
    My theory is that the new divide in politics in not left vs right, not libertarian vs authoritarian but between people who see the value of collective action an...
  • Caracatus
    I am stunned by the hostility to the green party which indicate to me that Lib Dems just don't get it. Bristol is mentioned, a City where the Lib Dems had 38 c...
  • Matt Wardman
    I think Iain makes an interesting challenge, but we are not in a position to judge Labour nationally. 1 - We cannot expect to see "change" work through in le...