Tory Party Defectors Flee a Clearly Sinking Ship
Conservative MPs joining Labour are backing the likely election winner.
A match made in Parliament.
Photographer: Carl Court/Getty Images EuropeTwo Conservative Members of Parliament have recently crossed the floor of the House of Commons to join the opposition Labour Party, which is the odds-on favorite to win the next UK general election due within months. The defections are a strong indicator that, after 14 years, the era of Tory hegemony is at last coming to an end.
Former colleagues and the Tory press rage against the traitors, but their barbs hardly sting. Many Conservatives are honest opportunists — they joined the party of the establishment that’s run the country for two-thirds of the past century to get on in the world — whereas Labour MPs have enjoyed the consolations of ideological purity mostly in opposition.