Durham Conservative MP Richard Holden says Christian Wakeford 'made a mistake' defecting to Labour

Red wall Tory MP Richard Holden says his friend and former colleague, Christian Wakeford, 'made a mistake' defecting to Labour.

The Conservative MP for North West Durham - one of the seven seats in our region which the Tory party took from Labour in the 2019 General Election - has spoken to ITV News Tyne Tees, as the controversy surrounding the Prime Minister continues.

Allegations of parties at Downing Street throughout lockdown have allegedly led to unrest among the newer Conservative MPs.

A poll this week showed that all six red wall seats in our region would return to Labour if an election was called.

However, Richard Holden is toeing the party line saying 'people are rightly concerned' but he won't pass judgement until he reads Sue Gray's investigation 'in full'.

Video report by Julia Breen

He said: "I think everybody is sitting back and thinking 'let's wait for the Sue Gray report'.

"I think Christian Wakeford's resignation moving over this week has also just actually brought an element of calm and reality to the situation".

There have now been allegations by senior Conservative William Wragg that the Prime Minister's critics were facing “intimidation” as part of an effort to prevent him from being ousted from office.

Boris Johnson insisted on Thursday he had “seen no evidence” to support the claim, and he is supported by Richard Holden, who said: "I have not experienced that from the whips office."

"I am not aware of anyone having been threatened to have funding withdrawn for saying they are not going to support the Government on something, or anything like that."

He added that the allegations are "very serious" and that MPs should be able to represent their constituents in the way they feel is best.