Former Health Minister Ditches Rishi Sunak’s Party, Says Tories Don’t Care About Health System

Former U.K. health minister Dan Poulter has left the Tory party and embraced the liberal Labour Party over what he says is the right’s non-concern for the health care system. “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,” Poulter, who is a practicing doctor, said Saturday. “I have come to the conclusion that, once again, the only cure is a Labour government.” He called on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to hold general elections “as soon as possible” and endorsed Sunak’s rival, Labour party leader Keir Starmer, a crushing blow to the incumbent PM. Poulter’s defection is the second under Sunak’s leadership—former Tory deputy chairman Lee Anderson ditched the party for the right-wing populist Reform party earlier this year—and doesn’t bode well for the Tories, who are already struggling in the polls.