Reform is becoming more Tory 2.0 by the day
A former Tory health minister under Boris Johnson Maria Caulfield, who lost her seat in the 2024 election, has defected to Reform.
Caulfield, who returned to nursing after being ousted as MP for Lewes by Lib Dem James MacCleary, told right-wing channel GB News that she had joined Reform a month ago.
Caulfield said: “If you are Conservative right-minded, then the future is Reform. The country is going to change a lot.”
At their party conference in Birmingham ten days ago, Reform platformed anti-vaxxer and consultant cardiologist Aseem Malhotra, who linked covid vaccines to cancer in the royal family.
Caulfield was a health minister between 2022 and 2024, playing a role in the government’s covid vaccine rollouts.
She was also parliamentary under-Secretary of State for Women from October 2022 to July 2024.
Meanwhile, Nigel Farage has voiced support for misogynist influencer Andrew Tate, claiming he is “an important voice for men”.
Caulfield’s defection comes after sitting Tory MP Danny Kruger joined Reform yesterday.
Caulfield, along with other Reform defectors Andrea Jenkyns, Nadine Dorries and Kruger, were all ministers under Johnson.
In 2022, Caulfield was famously laughed at by the Question Time audience when she suggested Boris Johnson didn’t believe there was any wrongdoing when a party was held at Downing Street during the covid lockdown.
So while Reform tries to claim it is anti-establishment, the party’s ranks suggest otherwise. The party is made up of an elite and is fast becoming Tory 2.0.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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