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Former home secretary Suella Braverman has become the latest ex-Tory rightwinger to defect to Nigel Farage’s Reform.
After months of speculation Ms Braverman, who once ran for the leadership of the Conservative Party, has joined her ally Robert Jenrick in switching parties.
She was unveiled at a Reform rally for veterans in London as the eighth MP for the party, having been a rare visitor to parliament in the last few months.
She said: “Today I am announcing that I am resigning the a Conservative whip and my party membership of 30 years. And because I believe with my heart and soul that a better future is possible for us, I am joining Reform UK.”
(Reuters)
Speculation had been rife about Ms Braverman joining Reform since her husband Rael became a member last year, but it cooled when the party’s former chairman Zia Yusuf issued a series of very personal attacks against her which saw Mr Braverman quit the party in protest.
A Tory source claimed: “Suella would have joined Reform sooner but the status of Rael was clearly a sticking point because they would have to let him rejoin the party as well.”
The defection follows months of speculation about her status within the Conservative Party.
Following Mr Jenrick’s sudden defection, Ms Braverman appeared on a watchlist of 11 Tory MPs who were suspected of mulling a move to Reform, with party sources telling the Independent they were “100 per cent certain” she would jump ship.
Ms Braverman, the MP for Fareham and Waterlooville, was a controversial home secretary under Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak in the midst of the small boats crisis where she was criticised for her language about migrants describing them as “invaders”.
She was sacked from the role at different times by both Truss and Sunak and also made a failed leadership bid in 2022 following Boris Johnson’s departure. By the time of the 2024 election humiliation for the Tories her former allies had switched support to Mr Jenrick for his leadership bid which saw him defeated by Ms Badenoch.
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