Danny Kruger has become the first sitting Conservative MP to defect to Reform UK.
The East Wiltshire MP’s defection was unveiled at a press conference on Monday, where Nigel Farage said Mr Kruger would head up Reform’s efforts to prepare for Government.
Describing his move as “personally painful”, Mr Kruger condemned his former party as “over”.
He said: “We have had a year of stasis and drift and the sham unity that comes from not doing anything bold or difficult or controversial and the result is in the polls.
“And those voters aren’t coming back, and every day, more and more people are joining them in deserting the party that has failed.”
Mr Kruger’s defection marks a major blow for Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, as both the first sitting Tory MP to join Reform and a member of the shadow front bench.
But he went further than merely criticising Mrs Badenoch’s leadership, suggesting that it was now “too late” to save the party even under a new leader such as Robert Jenrick, who’s bid for the party leadership Mr Kruger supported last year.
He told the press conference he had been in discussions with Reform about defecting over the summer, but had not spoken to Mrs Badenoch beforehand, instead informing Conservative chief whip Rebecca Harris on Monday morning.
Mr Kruger also urged his colleagues to join him in Mr Farage’s party, saying: “I would hope that colleagues who share my view about the crisis the country is in and the opportunity that Reform offers to save our country.”
But he added he had “no idea” if any of his parliamentary colleagues were also in discussions about joining Reform.
Responding to Mr Kruger’s defection, Mrs Badenoch herself insisted she was “not going to get blown off course by these sorts of incidents”.
Wiltshire County Council’s Conservative group leader Richard Clewer said his defection was “disappointing”, adding the party “hasn’t changed significantly from the position it went into the last election” and if anything had “got slightly more in line with Danny’s views”.
Turning to his new job, Mr Kruger said: “Our mission is not just to overthrow the current system, it is to restore the system we need.”
