[7][12] In June 2020, Wakeford stated that he had not resigned his Lancashire County Council seat as a block on elections during the COVID-19 pandemic would leave residents without representation for a year.

Fellow councillor Mark Perks was critical of this justification, citing a comparable case in Chorley Council where the incumbent had stepped down and no by-election was held and other colleagues had stood in.

[7] Wakeford's office had stated in June 2020 that he would relinquish his chairmanship of the Education Scrutiny Committee, which attracted an allowance of £7,620 per annum.

[11] In July 2020, Private Eye reported that after the general election, Wakeford had applied to Pendle Borough Council for leave of absence "while he sorted himself out in Westminster".

His request was declined and in April 2020 Wakeford automatically lost his seat, as he had not attended a borough council meeting for six months.

[15] Lewis had resigned from the Labour Party in December 2018 and stood as an independent candidate at the 2019 election, but polled in fifth place with 1,366 votes.

[16] The committee has since been involved in inquiries such as the impact of COVID-19 on education and children's services, adult skills and lifelong learning, and "left behind" white pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds.

[17] In July 2020, Wakeford was elected as co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on British Jews, whose stated purpose is to promote understanding of the aspirations and challenges of the UK's Jewish community, with topics including religious freedom, faith-based education, welfare and social justice, in addition to celebrating the culture, contribution and achievements of the UK's Jewish community.

[18] Residential areas within Bury South, particularly Prestwich and Whitefield, are home to some of Britain's largest Jewish communities outside London.

He cited the Dominic Cummings scandal, removal of the £20 Universal Credit uplift, the cost of living crisis, the Owen Paterson affair, and "partygate" as factors in his decision.

[29] On the day of his defection, Wakeford wrote to Johnson, "You and the Conservative Party as a whole have shown themselves incapable of offering the leadership and government this country deserves."

[31] Wakeford also wrote, "the policies of the Conservative government that you [Johnson] lead are doing nothing to help the people of my constituency and indeed are only making the struggles they face on a daily basis worse."

He wrote that he had "no doubt" his constituents would best benefit from his "joining a party that genuinely has their interests at heart", and confessed he had "wrestled with my conscience for many months".

[34][35] The left-wing campaign group Momentum stated that Wakeford "should be nowhere near the Labour Party", and that a by-election should be immediately called in the constituency.

Conservative MP and former Northern Powerhouse Minister Jake Berry told the BBC's Politics Live, "I think it was a terrible mistake by Christian.