Rayner assures MPs that Elphicke will have no formal Labour role

Angela Rayner privately assured Labour MPs that Natalie Elphicke would have no “formal role” in the party as she distanced herself from the Tory defector, The Telegraph can reveal.

Just hours after Ms Elphicke had crossed the aisle to join Labour, Ms Rayner, the party’s deputy leader, downplayed the idea that the Dover MP would play a key role developing policy direction.

It was made clear that Ms Elphicke would have no formal position advising on housing policy, an area Ms Rayner oversees in her role as the shadow communities secretary.

The message appeared to contradict indications from senior Labour insiders – and Ms Elphicke’s own defection statement – that the new Labour MP would be helping to set the party’s approach to housing.

It was delivered to a dozen Labour MPs at an internal backbench parliamentary committee meeting at 2pm on Wednesday, just two hours after the surprise defection, which happened at Prime Minister’s Questions.

A parliamentary source familiar with the meeting said: “Angela acknowledged her [Ms Elphicke’s] expertise in housing finance and her support for Labour’s housing policy. But the key point was that she clarified Natalie will have no formal role beyond being just a backbencher.”

In her resignation statement, Ms Elphicke had said: “I’m honoured to have been asked to work with Keir and the team to help deliver the homes we need”.

The news comes amid a growing backlash from Labour Left-wingers and prominent women in the party to the defection of Ms Elphicke, who had been on the Right of the Tory party.

On Thursday, following criticism from her new party colleagues, Ms Elphicke apologised for comments she made supporting her ex-husband after he was convicted of sexual assault.

In 2020, Charlie Elphicke, Ms Elphicke’s former husband and her predecessor as Dover MP, was convicted of sexually assaulting two women and sentenced to two years in prison.

Although she ended the marriage after his conviction, Ms Elphicke supported his unsuccessful appeal, saying he had been “attractive, and attracted to women” and “an easy target for dirty politics and false allegations”. Jess Phillips, a Labour MP, had called on Ms Elphicke to “account for her actions”.

Ms Elphicke said: “The period of 2017 to 2020 was an incredibly stressful and difficult one for me as I learned more about the person I thought I knew. I know it was far harder for the women who had to relive their experiences and give evidence against him.

“I have previously, and do, condemn his behaviour towards other women and towards me. It was right that he was prosecuted, and I’m sorry for the comments that I made about his victims.”

In a short interview with the BBC, Ms Elphicke later said she was “very committed” to working with the Labour leadership to tackle violence against women and girls.

Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, will attempt to capitalise on Ms Elphicke’s switch by unveiling a new package of illegal migration policies in her constituency on Friday. She had championed a tougher stance on small boat crossings when a Tory MP, criticising Sir Keir for vowing to scrap the Rwanda deportation flights.

The Telegraph understands at least two members of Labour’s National Executive Committee (NEC), the party’s ruling body, will call for Ms Elphicke to be stripped of the party whip when they next gather on May 28.

Jess Barnard, a Labour NEC member, told The Telegraph: “I will definitely be raising it... I think she should have the whip removed.” A second NEC member said that “nobody is happy” about the defection.

Removing the whip would mean that Ms Elphicke would not be able to continue sitting as a Labour MP and would instead have to become an independent.

Kevin Mills, the Labour leader of Dover District Council, said he had been in “complete shock” when Ms Elphicke’s switch to Labour was announced at noon on Wednesday.

Meanwhile Lord Cameron, the Foreign Secretary and former Conservative leader, said: “What does this tell us about the party she’s joining? In life, if you don’t stand for something you will fall for anything.”