Labour Is Starmer pushing party base too far?

Two days after defecting to Labour, the former Conservative Natalie Elphicke stood in front of a pure red backdrop as she introduced Keir Starmer in her Dover constituency - on the frontline of the battle over stopping small boat crossings.

- Pippa Crerar, Jessica Elgot, Kiran Stacey

In front of a slogan stating "border security", Labour's newest MP railed against her former colleagues in the Conservative party for having failed to control migration, and praised Starmer for stepping into the centre ground that Rishi Sunak had "abandoned".

The problem for Labour is that many in the party are unsure they want to stand on that same centre ground as Elphicke, whose staunch rightwing views as a Tory MP made her one of the last people suspected of planning to cross the floor. And unusually for a defection, it angered more people in Elphicke's new party than her old one.

On top of tension over the leadership's stance on Gaza and whether it is watering down some leftwing policies, some party insiders wonder if Starmer is pushing the base and parliamentary faithful too far. Labour MPs were particularly upset about Elphicke's defence of her ex-husband, a convicted sex offender.

Starmer aides believe that the political benefits of taking on Elphicke are worth a bit of internal turmoil and that most voters will just see headlines about another defection. That it was the MP for Dover, a constituency dealing with the effects of the small boats crossings, was a bonus. There are already hints that, after two Tory defections in the last fortnight, there could be more to come.