LONDON, April 28, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Conservative MP Dan Poulter has defected
to the Labour Party, opposition leader Keir Starmer confirmed Saturday,
dealing another blow to embattled prime minister Rishi Sunak.

Poulter, a former health minister, told the Observer newspaper that he was
switching parties and called on Sunak to call a general election "as soon as
possible".

Poulter said he was motivated by the troubles facing the National Health
service (NHS).

"It is abundantly clear to me that the Labour Party alone has the will and
the trust to restore and reform the NHS," he told the Observer in comments
published on the website of its sister paper, The Guardian.

"That's why we need a Labour government, and why I believe Keir Starmer must
lead that government as our next prime minister," he added. Poulter serves a
constituency in south east England.

Starmer wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that it was "fantastic to welcome Dr
Dan Poulter MP to today's changed Labour Party."

Sunak's Conservatives are languishing in the polls ahead of a general
election, which will almost certainly take place this year.