I do wonder, even with the above discussion, whether the Elphicke situation has done more harm than good overall. It will probably have won over few new converts - most strongly anti-immigration people will vote Tory or, if not, Reform in any case - but might have perhaps lost a few socially-liberal, left-wing votes.
Hopefully the latter will be mostly concentrated in the big cities, but you never know. If a couple of hundred people in a swing seat now say "a plague on all your houses" and refuse to vote Labour - maybe voting Green or Lib Dem instead - it could lead to the Tory retaining the seat.
It's interesting; Galloway is another example who has some views that are left-wing but others which are stridently right-wing. While they may not share common views on everything, I wonder if Galloway and Elphicke have a good deal of common ground?