LONDON (Reuters) - A lawmaker in Boris Johnson's Conservative Party on Wednesday defected to the opposition, dealing a blow to the British prime minister was he faces a growing rebellion from in his own ranks and demands for his resignation.

       "I would like to welcome Christian Wakeford to the Labour Party," Keir Starmer, leader of the opposition Labour Party, said in a statement.

       (Reporting by Alistair Smout and Elizabeth Piper; writing by Michael Holden; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)