In 2011, he was credited with a "lifesaving" intervention in Parliament when he persuaded fellow Conservative MP Guy Opperman to seek urgent medical treatment.[9] Opperman subsequently had a brain tumour removed. Poulter announced he would resign from the British Medical Association in 2012, following an announced doctors' strike. He said he did not believe "striking as a doctor could ever be justified".[10] In September 2012, Poulter became the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Health.[1][11] His primary responsibilities as a Health Minister were for workforce issues, NHS estates and IT systems.[12]
At the 2015 UK general election, Poulter was re-elected as MP for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich, with an increased vote share of 56.1% and an increased majority of 20,144.[13][14]
After the election, Poulter returned to the back benches, and restarted work part-time as a doctor.[15] In October 2015, Poulter expressed his support for protests by doctors and others against the Conservative government's proposed changes to the junior doctors' contract.[16][17]
In April 2016, Poulter widened his criticism of the Conservative government, in a Guardian article.[18] Poulter was opposed to Brexit prior to the 2016 EU membership referendum.[19] He later voted along party lines concerning leaving the EU.[20]
At the snap 2017 UK general election, Poulter was again re-elected, with an increased vote share of 60.1% and a decreased majority of 17,185.[21][22] He was again re-elected at the 2019 UK general election, with an increased vote share of 62.7%, and an increased majority of 23,391.[23][24]
In a March 2022 article penned by Poulter for the East Anglian Daily Times, he said "studies of healthy omnivores eating a diet rich in plant foods have failed to find consistent evidence that red meat is unhealthy".[25] In December 2022, he wrote an article in The Guardian advocating for increasing nurses' pay during the 2022 National Health Service strikes.[26]
On 27 April 2024, Poulter announced his defection to the Labour Party, the second Conservative MP to defect to Labour during that parliament after Christian Wakeford crossed the floor in 2022.[27] Poulter also declared that he would not be seeking re-election at the 2024 general election.[28]
Sunday Times libel case
In November 2017, The Sunday Times published two articles based on claims made to the newspaper by the MP Andrew Bridgen that Poulter had sexually assaulted three female MPs eight years previously. The Conservative Party Panel investigated the matter and exonerated Poulter, confirming that no woman had ever made a complaint about him. It dismissed the claims as having "no reliable evidence" to support them.[29] In February 2019, the Sunday Times apologised in open court to Poulter, acknowledging that the allegations were false, defamatory, and should not have been published. The articles were removed from the newspaper's website and Times Newspapers Limited agreed that it would not republish the same or similar allegations about Poulter in the future. The Sunday Times paid substantial damages to him, as well as his legal costs.[30][31]
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