Suella Braverman became the latest Tory to join Nigel Farage’s party.
Suella Braverman announced her defection to Farage’s party on Monday (Image: Getty)
Reform has now welcomed four sitting Conservative MPs into its ranks amid a flood of defectors into Nigel Farage’s insurgent party. The party has let in several top Tories in the past fortnight including ex-Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick, and now former Home Secretary Suella Braverman.
But the surge of Conservative switchers has sparked fierce debate about whether Reform risks losing what made it attractive to voters in the first place. Mr Farage has spent months courting disaffected Tory MPs, offering them a political home as the Conservative Party continues to collapse in the polls.
His strategy has been remarkably successful, with high-profile figures abandoning Kemi Badenoch’s struggling leadership to join the insurgent movement. Yet the influx has raised uncomfortable questions about whether Reform is becoming the very thing it was created to oppose – another establishment party stuffed with career politicians.
Labour and the Liberal Democrats have been quick to brand the party as a refuge for “failed Tories“, with Labour arguing that many of the Tories now joining Reform were in Government when immigration hit record highs, taxes soared and public services crumbled.
There are also concerns that accepting so many ex-Conservatives will alienate Reform’s voters who want a clean break from what they see as failed politics of recent decades. However, defenders of Mr Farage’s strategy insist the party needs experienced parliamentarians if it is serious about winning power rather than remaining a protest movement.
They argue politicians like Ms Braverman and Mr Jenrick represent the genuine Conservative Right who were consistently betrayed and undermined by liberal colleagues in Government. Supporters point out these figures tried to deliver tougher immigration policies but were blocked at every turn by ‘wet’ Tories.
They maintain that welcoming Conservative defectors gives Reform UK the credibility and ministerial experience needed to present itself as a government-in-waiting.
Mr Farage has insisted that there will be a close off date, May 7 this year, for new defectors.
But with more Conservative MPs rumoured to be considering the switch, the pressure is mounting on the Reform leader to demonstrate his party has not simply become a lifeboat for drowning Tories.
