(DIR) Home Natalie Elphicke: Who is the former Tory MP who defected to Labour? (HTM) Source ---------------------------------------------------------------------- In 2020, she got into a spat with footballer Marcus Rashford, who forced the Tories to U-turn on their stance against free school meals during the holidays in a high-profile campaign. Following England crashing out of the Euro 2020 finals, she apologised after suggesting he should have spent more time "perfecting his game" rather than "playing politics". She is the vice chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Ports and has also been a ministerial aide for defence, housing and health and in 2015 was awarded an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours for her services to housing.⯠Mrs Elphicke grew up in Kent, studied at the University of Kent at Canterbury, and spent 20 years as a lawyer. She had robustly defended her now ex-husband throughout the trial as well as following his conviction. After his conviction, she gave an interview saying the allegations were "false" and he had been punished for being "charming, wealthy, charismatic and successful". She also told the BBC she thought the sentence was "excessive" and criticised the court as being "on a bit of a mission". Mrs Elphicke was one of five senior Tory MPs who improperly tried to influence the trial judge, which the Commons standards committee later described as "egregious behaviour" that was "corrosive to the rule of law". ______________________________________________________________________ Served by Flask-Gopher/2.2.1