A Tory MP has said he is quitting the Conservatives to back Labour at the General Election.
Mark Logan, who represented Bolton North East for the Conservatives until Parliament dissolved on Thursday, has said a government led by Sir Keir Starmer was “going to be better for the UK”.
He told the BBC his application to join Labour was “going in today”.
“I believe, as a politician, it’s incumbent upon me to be able to say, to look people in the eyes in Bolton and say that I believe that a Labour government is going to serve you better, your interests better, it’s going to be better for your pockets, it’s better for the economy, it’s going to be better for the UK.
“For my constituents and for the country, it’s right that we get some stability back into the UK, we get optimism, we get new and fresh ideas.”
He also said that “the time has come to bring back optimism into British public life”.
Rishi Sunak’s party was “unrecognisable” from the party he joined a decade ago, Mr Logan told the broadcaster, although he did not criticise the Prime Minister personally.
Mr Sunak has already suffered two recent defections to Labour, with Dan Poulter and Natalie Elphicke crossing the floor in recent weeks.
Mr Logan won his seat from Labour in the 2019 general election with a narrow majority of just 378, making it one of the most marginal in the country.
He was a junior member of the Government, a parliamentary private secretary to ministers in the Department for Work and Pensions.
He is not defending his seat at this election, with Labour already having chosen a candidate for his former constituency, the BBC reported.
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