why would someone in the ruling party actually defect at this stage, with 3 years until the next GE
Its upto 3 years so an election could be called much sooner.
If the politician actually has values and they want to work in a party that aligns with those values
If an MP just saw Labour's vote get crushed in local elections jumping ship now might keep them their seat.
(Edit) Being in the ruling party doesn't get you shit if you aren't one of the ones that sets the direction of that party.
why would the greens accept the defection
Greens are struggling to find good candidates, they keep having to step down not because of bad politics but because they've done some bad posts or similar. Defectors have been in the public eye for a while and so are likely scandal free.
There's also a lot of knowledge that you get about how to/how not to run a parliamentary party when you have more than 1 MP in parliament.
As reform accept more and more tories, especially high profile ones from the previous government, it makes it much easier for other parties to campaign on them being the same. Given the historical relationship between the working class and the tory party, this has the potential to be extremely damaging.
3 Comments
hellothere@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 71d
Two questions
RIotingPacifist@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 71d
Greens are struggling to find good candidates, they keep having to step down not because of bad politics but because they've done some bad posts or similar. Defectors have been in the public eye for a while and so are likely scandal free.
There's also a lot of knowledge that you get about how to/how not to run a parliamentary party when you have more than 1 MP in parliament.
What issues are they facing?
hellothere@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 70d
Thanks for the thoughtful response.
As reform accept more and more tories, especially high profile ones from the previous government, it makes it much easier for other parties to campaign on them being the same. Given the historical relationship between the working class and the tory party, this has the potential to be extremely damaging.