Labour chairwoman Annelise Dodds said there is no place for Nigel Farage in the party, following criticism from some MPs that right-wing former Tory MP Natalie Elphicke was allowed to defect.

Asked if Mr Farage would be welcome if he wanted to join Labour, Ms Dodds said: "Nigel Farage is someone who is well outside any kind of Labour values.

“He has proven that time and time and time again.”

She said the former Brexit leader and Ms Elphicke are not comparable, as Mr Farage is “someone whose values are completely inimical to the Labour Party”.

“I think in what Natalie Elphicke has set out today she’s very clearly shown she is very concerned about the issues that both Labour MPs are concerned about and Labour members, and indeed many Labour voters,” Ms Dodds said.

“She’s very concerned about the impact of that lack of delivery of housing on people up and down our country.”

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    6 months ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:

    Ms Dodds told the Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge that she had not been contacted by anybody “to say they didn’t want that decision to have been taken”, following reports Sir Keir Starmer has faced a hostile response.

    Ms Elphicke quit the Tories with a broadside against Rishi Sunak, saying that under his leadership the party had become “a byword for incompetence and division” and had abandoned the centre ground.

    The defection comes after MP Dan Poulter’s decision to leave the Tories for Labour in April and the dismal local election results for the Conservatives last week.

    Speaking to LBC, the veteran left-winger said it “certainly is a stunt that damages the Tories”, but added that Ms Elphicke has expressed views in the past that “I don’t think the party should be associated with”.

    He cited her attacks on migrants and condemning England footballer Marcus Rashford when he missed a penalty at the Euros, suggesting he was too focused on his free school meals campaign.

    She was elected as Dover’s Conservative MP in 2019, taking over the seat which had been held by her disgraced then-husband Charlie, who was jailed for two years after being found guilty in 2020 of sexually assaulting two women.

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