Former Conservative MP Mark Logan has said he will support Labor in the next general election, saying the party could “bring optimism back to British life”.
In an exclusive interview with BBC News, Mr Logan, who represented Bolton North East for the Conservatives until Parliament was dissolved on Thursday, said Labor was on a “journey” and was now offering a “centrist policy”.
He added that the Conservative Party was now “unrecognizable” from the party he joined ten years ago.
Mr Logan won his seat with a majority of just 378 votes in 2019, making him one of the most marginal in the country.
Mr Logan, who supported Brexit, revealed in the interview that he was standing down and said his bid to join the Labor Party “was underway today”.
Labor has already chosen a candidate for its former constituency.
However, when asked if he might stand for Labor office in the future, he said: “I wouldn’t rule out returning to public life.”
Explaining his decision to support the Labor Party, he said: “Now is the time to bring optimism back to British public life. »
He compared the country’s mood to New Labour’s 1997 election campaign, whose official anthem was “Things Can Only Get Better” and which was followed by a landslide victory for the party.
“When I think back to my teenage years, in 1997, when Labor came to the fore and we obviously heard the song Things Can Only Get Better, I feel like we’re at it again at this point in British politics and British history,” he said.
He added: “For my constituents and for the country, it is right that we find some stability in the UK, that we have optimism, that we have new and fresh ideas.”
Mr Logan, who backed Rishi Sunak as Conservative leader, did not personally criticize the Prime Minister, saying he could “leave politics with his head held high” if he lost the election.
“It’s not more about the Tory push factor, it’s about the pull factor of Keir Starmer, the new cabinet coming in, the new faces, the new ideas,” he said.
Mr Logan said he had been considering supporting Labor “for quite a long time”, but felt the moment he resigned as an MP was the right time to announce his support for the party “because the “The electorate voted me in as a Conservative MP.” .
The former businessman and diplomat added: “I believe as a politician it is incumbent on me to be able to say, to look people in the eye in Bolton and say that I believe that a Labor government will serve you better, better serve your interests. , it will be better for your pockets, it will be better for the economy, it will be better for the UK.”
In February, Mr Logan split from his own party to call for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza conflict, saying Israel had “gone too far”.
At the same time, Labor also changed its position in favor of an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, following pressure on the party.
Asked if leader Keir Starmer was now right on Gaza, Mr Logan said he believed Labor was “best placed to deal with what’s going to happen” in relation to the conflict .
Mr Logan, who speaks fluent Mandarin, is chair of the all-party parliamentary group on China.
Before becoming an MP, he worked for the British Foreign Office and was head of communications at the British Consulate General in Shanghai.
In 2022, he left his post as a ministerial aide in protest against the leadership of Boris Johnson.
It comes after two other MPs – Natalie Elphicke and Dan Poulter – also left the Conservatives to join Labor earlier this month.
However, as they defected before Parliament was dissolved for the election, they briefly sat as Labor MPs before standing down.
News Source : www.bbc.com
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