Central Suffolk and North Ipswich MP Dan Poulter leaves Conservatives to join Labour

Suffolk MP Dr Dan Poulter has joined the Labour party after defecting from the Conservatives.

The former health minister, who represents Central Suffolk and North Ipswich, has decided to quit the Tories as he believes the party no longer prioritises the NHS.

Dr Poulter, who works part-time as an NHS doctor, wrote in The Observer to say he believes only Labour want to restore the service.

He said: "Working on the frontline of a health service under great strain left me at times, as an MP, struggling to look my NHS colleagues, my patients and my constituents in the eye.

"Throughout the small hours, my clinical colleagues and I cared for many patients suffering from serious psychosis who would routinely be waiting several days, rather than hours, in a windowless room in A&E for a mental health bed."

He also accused the Conservatives of becoming a ‘nationalist party of the right’.

Dr Poulter has represented his constituency since the 2010 election and will continue to do so until the next general election.