Reform claim to be anti-establishment and yet Nigel Farage's party have welcomed a significant number of former Tory politicians into their ranks
Reform claim to be anti-establishment and yet Nigel Farage’s party have welcomed a significant number of former Tory politicians into their ranks. From millionaire former chancellors like Nadhim Zahawi, to the likes of Jake Berry who played a key role in the disastrous Liz Truss government, Reform are more than happy to accept Tories because in the end all they’re offering is Tory policies repackaged. Far from being anti-establishment, they’re swelling their ranks with failed Tory politicians who the public roundly rejected.
After Zahawi’s defection, here’s a full list of senior Tories who have defected to Reform:
Lee Anderson: The former Tory MP for Ashfield defected in March 2024
Nadine Dorries: The staunch ally of old-Etonian Boris Johnson, Dorries announced her defection to Nigel Farage’s party last year.
Dame Andrea Jenkyns: A former Tory MP for Morely and Outwood from 2015 to May 2024, Dame Andrea left the party for Reform UK in November that same year.
Jonathan Gullis: Despite claiming to be a Tory for life, Gullis defected to Reform at the end of last year.
David Jones: The former cabinet minister and MP for Clwyd West defected to Farage’s party after over 50 years as a member of the Conservative Party.
Chris Green: Green, the former MP for Bolton West from 2015 until 2024 said he was defecting last year after struggling with the direction of the Tory party.
Danny Kruger: Kruger defected to Reform in September 2025, becoming the first sitting Tory MP to do so.
Lia Nici: Nici defected from the Tories last year after serving as MP for Great Grimsby between 2019 and 2024.
Ross Thompson: In June 2025, Thompson announced he was defecting saying that only Reform had the ‘courage and answers to the issues facing Scotland’.
Anne Marie Morris: Having lost the Tory whip twice – once for using the n-word in a Brexit debate – then losing her Newton Abbott seat to the Liberal Democrats in 2024, she defected to Reform on 2 July 2025.
Sir Jake Berry: Former Tory party chairman Jake Berry defected last year after claiming ‘Westminster politics had failed’. He was of course part of the very failure he bemoans.
Lucy Allan: A former Tory MP for Telford, Allan defected after being suspended from the Tories for supporting a Reform candidate.
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