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After Carswell’s defection, here are six Tory MPs who might jump ship to Ukip
Yesterday's shock news that senior backbencher and well respected Tory MP Douglas Carswell was defecting to Ukip caught many of the political elite on the back foot.
At a press conference held by Ukip, Carswell said he had "had more sleepless nights than you can possibly imagine.
"I happen to like David Cameron… he is just not serious about the change we need."
Though the Conservatives were less than pleased, with David Cameron calling the defection "deeply regrettable", Nigel Farage was cockahoop:
https://twitter.com/Nigel_Farage/status/504999006112866304
He told BBC News Carswell's move would be an “encouragement” to other MPs to do the same.
"Who’s to say there won’t be others?,” he asked, adding: "There are others in Westminister having similar talks."
In fact, there are rumours now at least five other Conservative MPs could be in talks with Ukip – but which MP could be next to defect?
Mid Beds MP Nadine Dorries has had her public run-ins with David Cameron and last year hinted she would consider running as a joint Tory-Ukip candidate in the next election (following her six month suspension over her appearance in I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here). But her Twitter feed suggests she is back in the Tory fold
https://twitter.com/NadineDorriesMP/status/504951243631235072
He stood up against the Tories over ID cards and lost his front bench seat as a result: Haltemprice and Howden MP David Davis is certainly no stranger to taking a principled stance, even when it's resulted in him entering a political wilderness. He shares some of Ukip's right-wing views and its more libertarian stance, and has previously said the major parties should not “sneer” at it.
He has not yet commented on any move.
According to news syndication site Breitbart, Kettering MP Philip Hollobone “has to be Ukip's number one target in parliament” because “it is hard to see where he disagrees with Nigel Farage”. He doesn't shy away from courting controversy, coming up with gems such as claiming Romanians have caused a crime wave in the UK and describing Muslim women in burkhas as “going round wearing a paper bag”.
Somerset MP and Have I Got News for You regular Jacob Rees-Mogg is a loyal Tory member, but his Euroscepticism goes beyond current party lines. He has, however, dismissed as “silly” any chance of him jumping ship, quoting Ken Clarke who said “I was born a Tory and I will die a Tory”.
He told the Western Daily Press:
I can see why people might be suggesting it, because I am quite Eurosceptic, but I wouldn’t even think about it for one second.For me, politics is about much more than just one issue or one policy. Ukip’s light will wane as we approach the next election, at which the economy will be crucial and whether people feel the recovery has reached them.But no, I have not even thought about defecting to Ukip.
Southend MP David Amess is known to agree with Ukip on many issues, not least Europe. He is also socially conservative – strongly anti-abortion, for example, which could see him move over. He has not made any public comment about it as yet.
Bury North MP David Nutall – a key ally of Douglas Carswell – is the chairman of the anti-EU Better Off Out group of MPs, and has consistently campaigned for Britain to leave the EU.
Of course people will now be asking who will be next and as Chairman of the Better Off Out group of MPs and peers in Parliament I have no doubt my name will be in the frame.I can say therefore that whilst I will continue to make the case for the UK leaving the EU — something I agree with Douglas and of course UKIP about — I intend to stay in the Conservative Party.
UPDATE: Roger Lord, the Ukip candidate for Clacton who was elbowed out by Carswell, has said it is "possible" he might defect to the Tories.
He also told Sky News he would "rip [Carswell's] throat out" if he fails to explain why he should replace him.