Tory minister says he 'won't lose sleep' over MP Dan Poulter's defection to Labour as left-wingers slam Keir Starmer for bringing in an 'active opponent of working-class interests'

A Tory minister swiped that he 'won't lose sleep' today after the defection of an MP to Labour.

Chris Philp played down the impact after Dan Poulter, a former health minister and part-time doctor, crossed the floor.

The move was timed to inflict the maximum possible damage on Rishi Sunak ahead of local elections on Thursday - where the Conservatives are braced for a bloodbath.  

Dr Poulter said the Tories were 'failing' the health service and that he could no longer 'look my NHS colleagues in the eye' as a Conservative.

However, while Keir Starmer trumpeted the defection, left-wingers were less happy. Corbynite pressure group Momentum branded Dr Poulter an 'active opponent of working-class interests'. 

Dr Poulter said that 'the health service has ceased to be an area of priority for the Conservative Party, and that is now showing in the strain on the front line and the deterioration of care for patients'.

He told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg: 'I found it increasingly difficult to look my NHS colleagues in the eye and my patients in the eye and my constituents in the eye with good conscience.

'And I feel that the NHS deserves better than it has at the moment in terms of how it's run and governed.'

He added that the Tory Party's 'focus is not on delivering or supporting high-quality public services'.

He said he switched to Labour because of its 'track record of delivering for patients, transforming services, getting on top of waiting lists, investing in community health care'.

Speaking to Times Radio, Mr Philp pointedly said of Dr Poulter that he 'hadn't seen him around Parliament that much recently'.

'It's always sad to lose a colleague. I haven't seen him around Parliament that much recently, but obviously one would rather not lose a colleague,' he said. 

'But the most important thing is that the government have a plan. And the plan is working.'

Pressed on whether he would 'lose any sleep', Mr Philp said: 

'I mean, not really, no'.

Mr Philp told the BBC: 'I don't accept what Dan is saying at all.

'We're now spending £165billion a year on the NHS, that's more than ever, at any point in history,' he said, also pointing to the recruitment of more doctors and nurses.

'That isn't the sign of a party de-prioritising the NHS. That is a sign of a political party, the Conservatives, investing heavily in our NHS because it is a priority.'

He also insisted the Tory Party values public services and is investing 'record amounts of money in both education and health'.

Dr Poulter will take the Labour whip until the general election but will not be running again as the MP for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich.

He will advise the Labour Party on its mental health policies while focusing more on his NHS work.

Labour leader Sir Keir said it was 'fantastic to welcome Dr Dan Poulter to today's changed Labour Party' and that it was 'time to end the Conservative chaos'.

Asked whether the MP was offered anything to defect to Labour, shadow health secretary Wes Streeting told Kuenssberg: 'Not that I'm aware of.

'He said very clearly to me when I was talking to him this week about how he might help, he's going back to the NHS full-time when Parliament is dissolved, which can't come soon enough as far as we're concerned.'

Mr Streeting also told Sky News that the defection reflected 'disaffection and disillusionment felt by millions'.

But a Momentum spokesman said: 'Dan Poulter spent fourteen years voting through and enacting Tory austerity and privatisation. 

'If he's right to say the Tories have broken the NHS and our public services, he fails to mention he helped break them.

'Sadly, it speaks volumes about Starmer's Labour that an active opponent of working-class interests feels comfortable joining the party. 

'With so little between the two main parties, it's no wonder voters feel unrepresented.'