Former Conservative minister Sam Gyimah joins the Liberal Democrats

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• Ex-Conservative Sam Gyimah becomes the Liberal Democrats' 18th member of Parliament.
• Gyimah was unveiled as a Lib Dem MP at the party's conference in Bournemouth on Sunday.
• He has joined the anti-Brexit party after being a Conservative MP for nearly a decade.
• He is the latest MP to switch to the Lib Dems having represented other parties.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Former government minister Sam Gyimah has joined the Liberal Democrats.

The member of Parliament for East Surrey was unveiled as a Lib Dem MP at the party's annual autumn conference in Bournemouth, south England, on Sunday evening. Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson revealed him to party members.

Gyimah is the Lib Dems' 18th MP and the latest to make the switch having represented another party.

Former Conservative MPs Sarah Wollaston and Phillip Lee have joined the anti-Brexit party in recent weeks, as well as former Labour MPs Luciana Berger and Angela Smith.

Ex-Labour and Change UK MP Chuka Umunna switched earlier this year.

Who is Gyimah?

Gyimah was a Conservative MP for nearly a decade until he lost the whip earlier this month.

He was sacked as a Conservative MP after rebelling against Boris Johnson's government to vote for legislation designed to prevent a no-deal Brexit taking place in October.

Gyimah has been a vocal critic of the Conservative government's handling of Brexit and earlier this year came out in support of a new referendum on whether the United Kingdom should leave the European Union.

He stood as a candidate in the contest to replace Theresa May as Conservative leader and prime minister, but was eliminated in the early stages after failing to win sufficient support from other Tory MPs.

May appointed Gyimah as universities minister in January 2018.

However, he resigned eleven months later in November in protest against her Brexit plan.

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