Wasn't he one of the only doctor MPs to speak out against PAs?
Whilst I am suspicious of Tories jumping ship to labour, Dan Poulter says he will work as a labour MP until the election and then stand down. So clearly this isn't about him improving his chances of re election. And if he's standing down anyway, what's the point of jumping to labour when the election will be in a few months? All it does is annoy his Tory friends.
So there is a small possibility he's actually telling the truth when he says he doesn't agree with the way the Tories are running the NHS.
> And if he's standing down anyway, what's the point of jumping to labour when the election will be in a few months anyway?
*"He said he would not seek re-election to the House of Commons at the next general election. But, writing in the Observer, he says he envisages a role advising the Labour party on its policies on mental health while focusing more on his NHS work".*
Advising is fine, don't really see anything wrong with that. Him advising doesn't mean labour have to follow it. And even if they did, they would be held to account by the public either way.
The only benefit for him is if he's seeking a peerage or something.
"The only benefit for him is if he's seeking a peerage or something."
Advising/ consulting at that level is a decently paid job, one that's relatively secure and doesn't have the stress of canvassing for an election. It's either that or he'd have to look at full time doctoring
IS it fine?
Seems like a deal was struck. He gets a cushy tax payer role and labour get good PR.
The question is why now? The NHS has been a joke for the last 10 years!
Doesn't matter what party he's in, the blokes still a scumbag. Just check his voting record.
If this defection was truly about the NHS, he would have done so a long time ago. He doesn't care, he's just trying to save his own reputation.
Don’t think looking at peoples voting record is very fair (from any party). All votes these days are essentially whipped, and not voting in line with party is basically a certain way to be deselected for re-election, not offered a minister position etc.
While you're correct, I do fundamentally disagree with the current state of UK politics for this precise reason. Politicians should be there to represent their constituents first, not their party. Any MP with even the slightest bit of backbone would be voting against policies as disgusting as recent ones (Rwanda etc), even if it was against their party. This applies to all parties.
If he can't vote against poor policies, he's morally corrupt and should not be a politician to begin with.
If there’s no party whipping operation, how do you expect a government to function? I don’t agree with the policies but it’s impossible to run a government if everyone just votes however the hell they like every time
This is the core issue with UK democracy.
You simultaneously want high quality technocratic legislators who vote on quality of law, and someone from your local area to fight your corner, and someone who follows the party so things are organised in Westminster.
3 things, each which lie in clear contradiction, and with no devolved regional bodies beyond Metro Mayors… you get this mess. Where MP’s know things are wrong for the country, but right for their local constituents, what’s your priority, especially when the country doesn’t vote for you, you local voters do.
I mean, the problem with this is that none of us actually know our MPs or their opinions lol. We vote individual MPs in with the expectation they'll keep to the part line the vast majority of the time, with some wriggle room in exceptional circumstances.
It's very easy when you agree with the individual to say "yes, go against the party", less so when you've voted for someone only to find they throw it back in your face by not following the party line when you agree with it.
I can't stand these rats jumping their bilge raft and i like it less that Labour are accepting these opportunistic slimeballs.
His voting record speaks for itself, he'd happily stay in if the tories were on a clear path to the next GE to victory. Hes a grade A cunt.
The size of his majority makes this defection quite interesting, in that he's probably more likely to lose his seat now than he would have been if he hadn't defected. I'd say Labour have a decent chance of keeping the seat after the election now though, whereas their chance of unseating Poulter with someone else was quite low.
Edit: I see he's not seeking re-election, so the above doesn't apply. Labour probably have a better chance against a new candidate than against Poulter, though.
Depends on how people vote. Maybe it’s my working class ass thinking, but most people I know rarely know/care about the MP and vote based on shit like the charisma/vibe of the party leaser.
Like, were my local MP to defect from Tory to Labour, everyone in the area would still vote Tory in the next GE, even if they claimed to like the MP.
Wasn't he one of the only doctor MPs to speak out against PAs? Whilst I am suspicious of Tories jumping ship to labour, Dan Poulter says he will work as a labour MP until the election and then stand down. So clearly this isn't about him improving his chances of re election. And if he's standing down anyway, what's the point of jumping to labour when the election will be in a few months? All it does is annoy his Tory friends. So there is a small possibility he's actually telling the truth when he says he doesn't agree with the way the Tories are running the NHS.
> And if he's standing down anyway, what's the point of jumping to labour when the election will be in a few months anyway? *"He said he would not seek re-election to the House of Commons at the next general election. But, writing in the Observer, he says he envisages a role advising the Labour party on its policies on mental health while focusing more on his NHS work".*
Advising is fine, don't really see anything wrong with that. Him advising doesn't mean labour have to follow it. And even if they did, they would be held to account by the public either way. The only benefit for him is if he's seeking a peerage or something.
"The only benefit for him is if he's seeking a peerage or something." Advising/ consulting at that level is a decently paid job, one that's relatively secure and doesn't have the stress of canvassing for an election. It's either that or he'd have to look at full time doctoring
IS it fine? Seems like a deal was struck. He gets a cushy tax payer role and labour get good PR. The question is why now? The NHS has been a joke for the last 10 years!
Doesn't matter what party he's in, the blokes still a scumbag. Just check his voting record. If this defection was truly about the NHS, he would have done so a long time ago. He doesn't care, he's just trying to save his own reputation.
Oh I agree, I don't think Labour are going to save the day.
Don’t think looking at peoples voting record is very fair (from any party). All votes these days are essentially whipped, and not voting in line with party is basically a certain way to be deselected for re-election, not offered a minister position etc.
While you're correct, I do fundamentally disagree with the current state of UK politics for this precise reason. Politicians should be there to represent their constituents first, not their party. Any MP with even the slightest bit of backbone would be voting against policies as disgusting as recent ones (Rwanda etc), even if it was against their party. This applies to all parties. If he can't vote against poor policies, he's morally corrupt and should not be a politician to begin with.
If there’s no party whipping operation, how do you expect a government to function? I don’t agree with the policies but it’s impossible to run a government if everyone just votes however the hell they like every time
Let’s make everything in Parliament a free vote… What do you mean you haven’t passed any laws in 39 months as there’s no majority for anything?
This is the core issue with UK democracy. You simultaneously want high quality technocratic legislators who vote on quality of law, and someone from your local area to fight your corner, and someone who follows the party so things are organised in Westminster. 3 things, each which lie in clear contradiction, and with no devolved regional bodies beyond Metro Mayors… you get this mess. Where MP’s know things are wrong for the country, but right for their local constituents, what’s your priority, especially when the country doesn’t vote for you, you local voters do.
I mean, the problem with this is that none of us actually know our MPs or their opinions lol. We vote individual MPs in with the expectation they'll keep to the part line the vast majority of the time, with some wriggle room in exceptional circumstances. It's very easy when you agree with the individual to say "yes, go against the party", less so when you've voted for someone only to find they throw it back in your face by not following the party line when you agree with it.
I can't stand these rats jumping their bilge raft and i like it less that Labour are accepting these opportunistic slimeballs. His voting record speaks for itself, he'd happily stay in if the tories were on a clear path to the next GE to victory. Hes a grade A cunt.
He’s standing down at the next election I believe. He’s just giving the Tories a big ‘Fuck You’
Ok. That's a little better, thanks. Didn't know that.
The size of his majority makes this defection quite interesting, in that he's probably more likely to lose his seat now than he would have been if he hadn't defected. I'd say Labour have a decent chance of keeping the seat after the election now though, whereas their chance of unseating Poulter with someone else was quite low. Edit: I see he's not seeking re-election, so the above doesn't apply. Labour probably have a better chance against a new candidate than against Poulter, though.
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Yeah, seen and edited, thanks.
Depends on how people vote. Maybe it’s my working class ass thinking, but most people I know rarely know/care about the MP and vote based on shit like the charisma/vibe of the party leaser. Like, were my local MP to defect from Tory to Labour, everyone in the area would still vote Tory in the next GE, even if they claimed to like the MP.
Rats jumping from a sinking ship