Christian Wakeford’s shock defection from the Conservative party to Labour has been the talk of Westminster this week – with Sir Keir Starmer surprising almost everyone – including his own MPs.
The high stakes move by Labour’s leader to let the MP for Bury South into the Party has raised questions as to whether Labour could be potentially abandoning its values at the expense of securing political capital in the fight against the Conservatives.
Wakeford’s introduction pulls into focus Labour’s refusal to readmit former leader Jeremy Corbyn into the PLP, angering many of the Islington North MP’s allies in the Party.
Should Labour be praised as a broad coalition, or criticised for abandoning its values? The vetting process will be sure to be closely scrutinised in the coming months.