LONDON: British lawmaker Lisa Cameron on Thursday became the first UK MP from the Scottish National Party to switch to the ruling Conservative Party, citing a “toxic and bullying” culture within the SNP.

Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he was “delighted” by the defection but the SNP demanded a local election in her seat.

Cameron claimed other SNP lawmakers at Westminster shunned her after she questioned the party’s backing for one of its officials, Patrick Grady. Grady was suspended from the House of Commons after being found to have acted inappropriately towards a staffer.

“I do not feel able to continue in what I have experienced as a toxic and bullying SNP Westminster group, which resulted in my requiring counselling for a period of 12 months in parliament and caused significant deterioration in my health,” she told the Scottish Daily Mail newspaper.

An SNP spokeswoman said Cameron “should now do the right thing and step down to allow a by-election”.

Her defection comes days before the SNP’s annual conference and follows the party’s heavy loss to the main opposition Labour party in a by-election last week.

Sunak said he was “delighted that Lisa Cameron has decided to join the Conservatives”. “She is a brave and committed constituency MP,” he added.

“Lisa is right that we should aim to do politics better, with more empathy and less division and a dedication to always doing what we think is right.”

Published in Dawn, October 13th, 2023