Turncoat MP Natalie Elphicke 'lobbied Justice Secretary to pull strings to help her ex-husband over his sex assault trial'

A Labour MP who defected from the Tories last week has been accused of trying to exert ‘improper’ influence over her ex-husband’s trial for sexual assault by personally lobbying the Justice Secretary, The Mail on Sunday can exclusively reveal.

Natalie Elphicke, whose switch to Sir Keir Starmer’s party this week triggered a fierce Labour backlash, faces claims that she complained to Sir Robert Buckland about the judge who presided over Charlie Elphicke’s 2020 trial for sexually assaulting two women.

Sources have told The Mail on Sunday that when Ms Elphicke complained about Lady Justice Whipple, Sir Robert reacted furiously and pointed out that it would be wrong for him to interfere.

Last night Sir Robert said: 'She was told in no uncertain terms that it would have been completely inappropriate to speak to the judge about the trial at all.'

The claims will prove embarrassing for Sir Keir – a former Director of Public Prosecutions.

The extraordinary clash came after Elphicke’s trial was listed as one of the first cases after the first Covid lockdown.

The sources said that Ms Elphicke asked Sir Mark Spencer, then Chief Whip, to arrange a meeting with the Justice Secretary under the guise of ‘discussing the justice system’.

But during the exchange, in Sir Robert’s Commons office, Ms Elphicke ‘went straight in all guns blazing’ to complain about the timing of the case – on the grounds that, as one of the first in-person trials after the first lockdown, there would be a disproportionate amount of media interest.

She objected to the seniority of Lady Justice Whipple, who was then a High Court judge, which she implied would contribute to the publicity the case attracted, and suggested that the judge's prominence made it more likely that she would 'throw the book' at her husband. 

She is also understood to have argued that the trial should be ‘split’ between the two assault claims, which the sources understood to be a bid to lessen the likelihood of his conviction.

Last night, Ms Elphicke denied that ‘characterisation of the meeting’ with Sir Robert.

Elphicke, who lost the Tory whip in 2017 when the allegations were referred to the police, stood down as Dover MP in 2019 – and was succeeded by his wife. He was sentenced to two years in prison.

In a further apparent case of attempted interference, Ms Elphicke used parliamentary-headed paper to write to Dame Kathryn Thirlwall, Senior Presiding Judge for England and Wales, and Dame Victoria Sharp, President of the Queen’s Bench Division, to make representations at pre-sentencing hearings. 

Her actions led to her being suspended by the House of Commons Committee on Standards for ‘an attempt improperly to influence judicial proceedings’.

Right-wing Ms Elphicke’s defection – and that followed fellow former Tory MP Dan Poulter's move two weeks ago – has angered many Labour MPs, with one understood to be considering resignation.

Sir Keir's chief of staff Sue Gray is understood to have played a key role in securing her defection behind the backs of senior members of Sir Keir's shadow cabinet.

Last night, a friend of Sir Robert said: ‘He had made it clear that it would be improper to talk about the trial, and he could only discuss general justice issues, but Natalie then launched into a diatribe about the timing. 

'She wanted him to intervene to enquire why the judge was listing the case first-off in Southwark after a lockdown. He said that it was not for him to interfere with the listing functions of the judiciary.

‘They are wholly independent. It would be wrong.’

The friend added that the insinuation was ‘that she was not happy with the judge. But he explained to her that there was no universe in which he would get involved. That’s not his role.’

The friend also pointed out that ‘Justice Whipple has a very good reputation.’

He added that Ms Elphicke ‘overstepped the mark. If Robert had been told she wanted to talk about her husband’s case, he would not have held the meeting.’

He added that Ms Elphicke had appeared to be unhappy with the fact that both complainants were in the same trial, and said they should be ‘severed’ to stop the jury from hearing two complainants at the same time.

However, Sir Robert’s friend said: ‘That would be a decision made purely by the judge on the law, and is certainly nothing to do with the Government.’

Amid growing discontent on the Labour benches last week, Ms Elphicke apologised for comments she made after the trial in which she argued that her ex-husband had merely been ‘attractive, and attracted to, women’ and that made him ‘an easy target for dirty politics and false allegations’.

A source close to ex-Chief Whip Sir Mark said that he was ‘a bit embarrassed’ about the Buckland meeting, saying: ‘He told her that she couldn’t put the Justice Secretary in the position of discussing a particular case and she mustn't raise Charlie’s case specifically.

‘So he asked Buckland to meet with her on the grounds that it was to do with justice in general.

‘Of course, what she bloody did was go straight into that meeting and went all guns blazing.’

The source added: ‘She was ranting on about the treatment that Charlie had had and the way in which the case was being put together, and how the whole system was biased because he was a Tory MP.

‘Buckland is not a ranty man but he was not pleased.’

Lady Justice Whipple has enjoyed a meteoric rise through the judiciary to become one of Britain’s top judges.

The mother-of-three was appointed as a Court of Appeal judge in 2021 and is described by legal sources as a ‘brilliant and fair’ high flyer.

A legal source said: ‘She is the model of a modern judge – fiercely intelligent and scrupulously fair. She has warmth, good humour and commands the respect of those who appear in her court.

‘As a trial judge, she was often tasked with particularly difficult and sensitive cases, which she was known to handle with consummate skill.

‘She has made the step up to the Court of Appeal appear effortless and she is held in extremely high regard.’

Last night, a Labour Party spokesman – speaking on behalf of Ms Elphicke – said: ‘Natalie Elphicke totally rejects that characterisation of the meeting.

‘If Robert Buckland had any genuine concerns about the meeting, then he should have raised them at the time, rather than making claims to the newspapers now Natalie has chosen to join the Labour Party.’