Items20The creator’s order
  1. 1Winston ChurchillWinston ChurchillBorn 30 Nov 1874Formal switch, twice. Churchill crossed the floor from the Conservatives to the Liberals in 1904 over free trade, serving in Asquith's reforming cabinet, then drifted back to the Conservatives in the 1920s and became Baldwin's chancellor. He later joked that 'anyone can rat, but it takes a certain…0i
  2. 2Joseph ChamberlainJoseph ChamberlainBorn 8 Jul 1836Formal switch. The radical Liberal mayor of Birmingham resigned from Gladstone's cabinet in 1886 over Irish Home Rule and led the Liberal Unionists, who allied with the Conservatives and eventually merged with them in 1912. He became Colonial Secretary in Salisbury's government and later split that…0i
  3. 3Ramsay MacDonaldRamsay MacDonaldBorn 12 Oct 1866Expelled for crossing. Labour's first prime minister agreed in August 1931 to lead a National Government with the Conservatives and Liberals to impose spending cuts during the financial crisis. Labour expelled him, and at the October 1931 election the National Government won 554 seats while Labour…0i
  4. 4Enoch PowellEnoch PowellBorn 16 Jun 1912A cross-party campaign and a formal switch. Powell stood down as a Conservative before the February 1974 election and urged voters to back Labour because it offered a referendum on Common Market membership; some analysts think he swung enough votes to change the result. In 1975 he campaigned for a…0i
  5. 5Dick TaverneDick TaverneBorn 18 Oct 1928Formal switch, tested by voters. When his Lincoln constituency party deselected him for backing Common Market entry, Taverne resigned his seat and fought a by-election in 1973 as 'Democratic Labour', winning with a majority of over 13,000. He held on narrowly in February 1974 and lost that October.…0i
  6. 6Reg PrenticeReg PrenticeBorn 16 Jul 1923Formal switch from cabinet. Prentice served in Harold Wilson's cabinet, was deselected by left-wing activists in his Newham North East constituency, and crossed the floor to the Conservatives in 1977, the most senior Labour figure to do so. He won Daventry for the Conservatives in 1979 and served…0i
  7. 7Roy JenkinsRoy JenkinsBorn 11 Nov 1920New party. Returning from the presidency of the European Commission, Jenkins called in a 1979 lecture for 'breaking the mould' of British politics, and in 1981 he, Shirley Williams, David Owen and Bill Rodgers issued the Limehouse Declaration and founded the Social Democratic Party. He won the…0i
  8. 8Shirley WilliamsShirley WilliamsBorn 27 Jul 1930New party, then merger. A former Labour education secretary, Williams co-founded the SDP and in November 1981 won the Crosby by-election, overturning a Conservative majority of nearly 20,000 to become the party's first elected MP. She lost the seat in 1983, backed the merger with the Liberals and…0i
  9. 9David OwenDavid OwenBorn 2 Jul 1938New party, and a refusal to merge. A former Labour Foreign Secretary, Owen co-founded the SDP and led it from 1983, then refused to join the 1988 merger with the Liberals and kept a rump 'continuing SDP' going until it was outpolled by the Monster Raving Loony Party at the 1990 Bootle by-election…0i
  10. 10Alan Howarth, Baron Howarth of NewportAlan Howarth, Baron Howarth of NewportBorn 11 Jun 1944Formal switch. A former Conservative minister and party vice-chairman, Howarth crossed the floor to Labour in October 1995, the first Conservative MP to defect directly to Labour, citing the Major government's social policies. He left his Stratford-on-Avon seat, was elected Labour MP for Newport…0i