The hitherto Conservative MP for Dover, Natalie Elphicke, has sensationally defected to the Labour party. This has sent shockwaves through Westminster, as Elphicke was a figure on the right of the Conservative party.

In addition to embarrassing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, this defection has caused significant disquiet within Labour, where many MPs and activists feel her prior stances on a range of issues jar with Labour policies.

Elphicke’s move came just days after Daniel Poulter, Conservative MP for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich, had also defected to Labour. But these two are far from the first to cross the aisle in this way.

We don’t yet know if Elphicke’s move will be consequential in the long term and she isn’t standing in the next election, so this could be little more than a short sharp shock. But history shows us defections can lead to monumental change. These are four such examples.

Robert Peel was prime minister from December 1834 to April 1835 and later from August 1841 to June 1846. He is arguably one of the most significant figures in British political history. Prior to his premiership, he served as home secretary and founded the London Metropolitan Police (hence the colloquial name “Bobbies”). But he was also instrumental in the creation of the modern Conservative Party from its predecessor, the Tory Party.

Peel was a believer in free trade at a time when many in his party were protectionists who sought to keep prices high for domestic producers. For his backbenchers, the most sacred of these........

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