Former Conservative MP for Loughborough and Charnwood joins the Liberal Democrats

The former Loughborough and Charnwood MP Stephen Dorrell has joined the Liberal Democrats, urging other liberals in the Conservative Party and social democrats in Labour to now “break cover”. He was a Conservative MP for 36 years and served as a minister in the Margaret Thatcher and John Major governments.

In 2019 Dorrell left the Conservative Party and joined Change UK, where he stood in the European Parliament election for the West Midlands constituency, but failed to get elected.

The former MP said on social media that he wanted to help create a strong new voice "to defeat the forces unleashed by the Brexit argument."