Unlock Editor’s Digest for free
Roula Khalaf, editor-in-chief of the FT, selects her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Suella Braverman, the former Conservative home secretary, has defected to Reform UK, becoming the latest high-profile Conservative to join Nigel Farage’s insurgent populist party.
The move sparked a furious response from the Conservative Party, which initially made statements about Braverman’s “mental health” before withdrawing the comment, a sign that the party believes he is fighting for survival as Reform UK attempts to replace him on the right of British politics.
Brave manwho has long been a controversial figure with strong right-wing views within the Conservatives, said she was joining the Reform Party because she felt the Conservatives had “completely failed to do the right thing for the British people” while in government.
“Because I believe with all my heart and soul that a better future is possible for us, I am joining Reform UK,” the former minister said.
Although Braverman’s defection has long been rumored, it nonetheless constitutes a significant coup for Farage as he attempts to undermine the Conservatives’ foundations in Parliament.
The move follows defection of Robert Jenrick two weeks ago, who was fired from his post as shadow justice secretary after his plans to join the Reform Party were discovered. He was closely followed by Romford MP Andrew Rosindell. Former chancellor Nadhim Zahawi also DEFECTSd re-form earlier this month.
Farage encouraged more MPs to defect, setting a deadline for early May, in a bid to trigger a wave of losses for the Tories.
The Reform Party’s anti-immigration populism propelled it to the top of the polls after Labour’s popularity plummeted shortly after Sir Keir Starmer came to power.
Many voters are not yet ready to return to the Conservatives after the party’s 14 years in power, from 2010 to 2024, with Farage running with the mantra that “Britain is broken” and that it is the fault of the established parties.
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has attempted to launch a rearguard action, with her attacks on Reformers becoming increasingly fierce in recent weeks, amid warnings to other MPs considering defection that she would not tolerate distraction from MPs. “psychodrama and intrigue”.
On Monday, the Conservative Party responded to Braverman’s defection with a very personal attack, with a spokesperson saying: “The question was always when, not if, Suella would defect. The Conservatives did everything they could to look after Suella’s mental health, but she was clearly very unhappy.”
The party later sent a revised statement in which the mental health comment was removed, saying it was a “draft” that was “sent in error”.
He also highlighted Braverman’s failures in the Conservative Party leadership elections, saying that in 2024 “she couldn’t even muster enough supporters to run for office.”
The party added: “She has now decided to take a chance with Nigel Farage, who said last year that he did not want her in the Reform Party – they really are doing our ‘spring cleaning’!
A Reform official said comments about Braverman’s “mental health” were “gutter politics, a sign of what the Conservative Party has become.”
Braverman’s defection, announced Monday at a gathering of Reform veterans, means the Reform Party now has eight MPs, double its number from last summer.
Farage was energetic immediately after the announcement, leaving the stage to give the new Reform Party persona a moment alone in the spotlight.
“She has obviously thought about it for a long time, but, like many Tory MPs, she has come to the conclusion that the Tories are disintegrating,” he told the FT.
Farage later said he had spoken to Braverman “on and off” for just over a year and claimed she was the most popular Conservative MP among Tory members.
He sidestepped reports that he had previously criticized her, saying that if he had been a Conservative MP he would have wanted her to become party leader.
He added that Braverman was “now ready to hold up our hands and say we were wrong, and that’s the first criterion.”
Farage has set May 7 – the date of key elections in England, Wales and Scotland – as the deadline for other Conservative MPs to defect.
The Reform Party remains vulnerable to criticism that it brings together disaffected conservatives, while much of its appeal to voters is that it offers a break from the past.
Farage was asked on Monday whether former prime minister Liz Truss might join the Reform Party, given that her party now has an equal number of cabinet members in its ranks as Badenoch’s in his shadow cabinet.
Farage suggested Truss – who has been in the political wilderness since her disastrous 49 days as prime minister – would not join the Reform Party, but stressed he had not said she was not welcome.
“I didn’t say that. I said it was unlikely,” Farage said.
