Suella Braverman has blindsided the Tories and defected to Reform UK, declaring ‘enough is enough’ as she slammed her former party for ‘betrayal and lies’.
Braverman becomes Reform’s eighth MP today (Image: Getty)
Suella Braverman has blindsided the Tories and announced she is defecting to Reform UK, declaring her love of country led her to abandon the Conservative Party. Joining Nigel Farage on stage at a packed event today, the former Home Secretary became the insurgent party’s eighth Member of Parliament in a hammer blow to the Kemi Badenoch.
It ends months of rumours and speculation that she was preparing to make the move from the party she once served as one of its most senior ministers. Ms Braverman cautioned attendees against “managed decline” and confirmed she had resigned from the Conservative whip.
The Fareham and Waterlooville MP delivered a scathing verdict on Britain’s decline under successive Conservative and Labour governments. She said: “Immigration is out of control, our public services are on their knees, people don’t feel safe, we can’t even defend ourselves and our nation stands humiliated on the world stage.”
She slammed her former party in a fiery speech to attendees saying the party “ignored” her and the “sacked me” over her demands to take the UK out of the ECHR. She said the part had “no backbone, no resolve” in a withering assessment.
Mrs Braverman added that she believed the Tory pledge to leave the ECHR is a lie, adding that some Tory MPs “don’t understand” the policy. She declared “enough is enough” to a rapt audience.
She declared: “I’m calling time on Tory betrayal, Tory lies, on Tory promises with zero intention of keeping them.”
Her defection makes her the eighth MP in Mr Farage’s insurgent movement, with Ms Braverman being one of the Conservative Party’s most prominent Right-wing voices
She follows former Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick, who defected last week, alongside Romford MP Andrew Rosindell. The trio of high-profile departures has left Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch facing a mounting crisis as her party hemorrhages support to Reform.
Mr Farage has been systematically targeting disaffected Tory MPs, offering them a political home as the Conservatives continue to languish in the polls. Reform now boasts eight MPs in the House of Commons, giving the party growing clout in Parliament as it seeks to challenge both the Conservatives and Labour.
Ms Braverman’s defection is particularly damaging for the Tories given her prominent role in Government under both Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak. She served as Attorney General before being appointed Home Secretary, where she pursued a hardline approach to immigration and law and order.
Her departure will fuel further speculation about whether other Conservative MPs could follow suit, with Reform emerging as an increasingly attractive option for Right-wing parliamentarians disillusioned with the direction of their party.
