Crossing Lines: Mark Logan’s Defection from Tories to Labour Marks a Complex Political Shift

Tory defector may clash with government, yet doesn't fully align with Labour

Mark Logan revealed his surprising decision on Thursday, and it appears he is now pursuing a position with Sir Keir Starmer's support.

Senior political reporter @joncraig

Friday, May 31, 2024, 8:

During a Sky News segment following the defection of former Tory MP Christian Wakeford to Labour in 2022, Mark Logan was questioned about whether he intended to follow suit.

In response, he chuckled and said humorously, "I have no intentions of defecting—to the Democratic Unionist Party."

Two years on, Mr. Logan, following in the footsteps of Mr. Wakeford, Dan Poulter, and Natalie Elphicke from the recently concluded parliament, has left the Conservative Party to join Labour.

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In his surprising declaration of switching allegiances, Mr. Logan stated that he had engaged in "extensive introspection during my initial term in parliament."

Few politicians acknowledge such personal uncertainties. However, Mr. Logan has always stood apart from the louder and more confrontational newcomers in the Conservative party's 2019 cohort. You know who you are!

He is not a controversial character like the last Tory to switch to Labour, Natalie Elphicke, whose reception by the party's leaders shocked several Labour MPs and supporters.

Despite taking the seat from Labour's Sir David Crausby, who served as the MP for Bolton North East between 1997 and 2019, this constituency is not considered part of the Red Wall.

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The constituency was served by the Conservative Peter Thurnham starting in 1983, until he left the party to become an independent and later aligned with the Liberal Democrats in 1996.

Mr. Logan is not the inaugural member of parliament for Bolton North East to leave his political group and align with an opposing one.

He originated from Ballymena in County Antrim and completed his undergraduate studies at Queen's University in Belfast. Subsequently, he pursued master's degrees at the London School of Economics and Wadham College, Oxford.

Prior to his election as a Member of Parliament, he served as a diplomat for the Foreign Office at the British Consulate-General in Shanghai. He is proficient in Mandarin and has picked up Japanese following his election in 2019.

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In the 2017 general election, he contested the East Antrim constituency, a seat held by Sammy Wilson of the DUP, as a Conservative Party candidate, finishing sixth and garnering a mere 963 votes.

The candidate who supported Brexit narrowly secured the Bolton North East seat by a mere 378 votes in the 2019 election, and has continuously experienced the intense pressure of representing a constituency with a very small majority.

The constituency is home to a substantial Muslim population, and Mr. Logan has actively supported Gaza, frequently expressing strong criticism of Israel’s actions following the Hamas strikes on October 7 of the previous year.

He didn't solely oppose policies on Gaza. In 2022, he resigned from his role as a parliamentary private secretary to ministers in Northern Ireland, a position considered the first step in a ministerial career, as a form of protest against Boris Johnson's involvement in "partygate" and the Chris Pincher harassment allegations.

Upon Rishi Sunak's assumption of the prime ministerial role, Mr Logan was appointed as a Parliamentary Private Secretary to the ministers at the Department for Work and Pensions.

Mel Stride, a close associate of Sunak and currently serving as the secretary of state, is likely to be upset by his departure from the party.

He's now supporting Sir Keir Starmer for prime minister and aims to be a Labour candidate.

His stance on Israel and Gaza, while conflicting with the Conservative government, also doesn't align completely with typical Labour positions.

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