Conservative MP Esther McVey has delivered a blunt response when asked on GB News whether she would consider defecting to Reform UK.
The MP for Tatton praised Nigel Farage’s party after they won the Runcorn and Helsby by-election by an extremely narrow margin.
It prompted GB News’s Tom Harwood to ask the MP whether she might be “wooed” should an approach from the insurgent party materialise.
“We’ve got to work together for Cheshire. My Labour leader of Cheshire East has also written to me to ask Keir Starmer to stop the winter fuel allowance cut”, she said.
Esther McVey would not be tempted by a Reform UK advance, she told GB News
PA / GB NEWS
Asked if she is “tempted”, by Farage’s party, she said: “Give me a break.
“What I did say and what I do believe is we have to get rid of this socialist government.
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In Runcorn and Helsby, Reform’s Sarah Pochin narrowly defeated Labour by just six votesREUTERS“A win and a victory for Reform means one less Labour MP ruining our country. It doesn’t matter if it’s net zero bonkers, destroying the economy or national insurance contributions, Labour is systemically destroying a country I love.
“One fewer Labour MP is a hooray for me.”
Labour MP Dan Tomlinson hit back at McVey’s assertions about his party, saying we are witnessing the early stages of a new “coalition of chaos” between Reform and the Tories.
Reform stunned Labour last week to snatch the Runcorn and Helsby constituency by just six votes.
Esther McVey and Dan Tomlinson clashed on GB News
GB NEWS
Farage has declared that Reform UK has "supplanted" the Conservatives as the opposition to Labour following significant gains in local elections.
The Reform UK leader claimed the Tories will "never recover" after his party secured 10 councils and more than 600 seats in Thursday's poll.
The electoral success marks a significant shift in British politics, with Reform also winning a parliamentary by-election in Runcorn and Helsby by just six votes.
The party even took control of the previously Labour-run Doncaster Council, demonstrating their growing appeal beyond traditional Conservative areas.
Farage said two-party politics had "died" at both local and national level.
"The party that I lead is expanding. As we march on, the Conservatives are in retreat. In my opinion, they will never recover," the Clacton MP wrote in The Telegraph.
Sir Keir Starmer is facing mounting pressure to change course after Reform's electoral success.
Labour backbencher Emma Lewell said the party needs a "change of plan" rather than a "plan for change", urging a return to core values of "social justice and fairness".
Kemi Badenoch apologised to defeated Conservative councillors and pledged to get the party back to being a "credible alternative to Labour".
The Conservatives suffered one of their worst results in history, losing more than 600 councillors and all 15 councils they previously controlled.
