The Conservative Party suffered yet another blow at the weekend as the MP for Witney, Mr Shaun Woodward, defected to Labour, asserting that the Tories had become a party of extremism.
The news of his move was immediately met with condemnation from senior Conservative figures, along with calls for him to stand down and fight a by-election.
Mr Woodward insisted, however, that it was the Tories that left him and his constituents, and that no such election was necessary.
"It is the Tory Party that has changed in the last 2 1/2 years," he said yesterday. "It is the Tory Party which is xenophobic, it is the Tory Party which discriminates . . . They have left me and they, therefore, have left the people of Witney too."
Mr Woodward was considered a rising star in the shrinking liberal ranks of the Conservative Party and his departure comes as a serious blow for the party leader, Mr William Hague.
In a letter to his former MP, Mr Hague wrote: "If you were a man of honour, who valued his constituents as much as you say you do, you would resign your seat now, fight a by-election and give them the opportunity to judge who it is that represents their views and their instincts more accurately."
The millionaire MP was sacked from the position of shadow minister for London earlier in the month amid discord over his libertarian views on gay rights, and it is believed that this led him to consider defecting.
The Conservative decision to oppose the abolition of Section 28 of the Local Government Act - which prohibits the use of public money to promote homosexuality as a way of life - went against his principals and pitted him against his party's leader.
It is reported that in recent weeks Mr Woodward had three meetings with the Prime Minister, Mr Blair, at 10 Downing Street, sparking rumours that he may be in line for a ministerial post. He dismissed the speculation however, asserting that "there were absolutely no deals".
"As of today I have put my political career in jeopardy for one very simple reason - the Tory Party of today is extremist, it is right-wing, it has actually found discrimination a political tool to use against people."
He also accused the Conservatives of "muck-raking" amid reports that he had a homosexual past and that anonymous Tory sources were making allegations about his personal life.
The Conservative Party chairman, Mr Michael Ancram, meanwhile accused Mr Woodward of being a man of "little substance" and repeated the by-election challenge.
The Labour left-winger, Mr Tony Benn, also called for an election, saying: "If he's joined Labour fine and good, but he'd better prove that he's wanted in Parliament . . . Isn't it funny that Shaun Woodward as a Tory front-bencher is more welcome in the Labour Party than Ken Livingstone . . . it does make you wonder about the nature of New Labour."
Mr Woodward rejected the challenges asserting that a by-election was unnecessary. "At the last general election I stood on a platform that was not xenophobic, that was not discriminatory, that believed in public services, schools and hospitals."
He also rejected allegations of careerism from the Tory leadership. "If I was a careerist I would have a detailed plan. I would know what I would be doing in three, six, nine, 12 months' time. I don't even know whether I will be in parliamentary life in 18 months' time."
Mr Woodward is not the first Tory MP to defect to Labour after judging that the Tory party had become too right wing. He follows in the footsteps of Mr Alan Howarth, who left in 1995, and Mr Peter Temple-Morris who departed in 1997.