Unlock Editor’s Digest for free
FT editor Roula Khalaf selects her favorite stories in this weekly newspaper.
The former Conservative Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, has joined Reform UK, becoming the latest high-profile Tory to jump ship to Nigel Farage’s rebel populist party.
The move drew a furious response from the Conservative Party, which initially made claims about Braverman’s “mental health” before withdrawing the comments, in a sign the party feels it is in a fight for survival as Reform UK attempts to turn it into the right of UK politics.
Braverman, who has long been a controversial figure with strong right-wing views within the Conservatives, said she was joining Reform because she believed the Tories had “completely failed to do the right thing for the British people” while in government.
The former cabinet minister said, “Because I believe in my heart and soul that a better future is possible for us, I am joining Reform UK.”
While Braverman’s defection has long been rumored, it still marks a significant coup for Farage as he attempts to dismantle the Conservatives’ foundation in Parliament.
The move follows the defection two weeks ago of Robert Jenrick, who was removed as shadow justice secretary after plans to join Reform were revealed. Andrew Rosindale, MP for Romford, followed shortly afterwards. Former Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi also defected to Reform earlier this month.
Farage has encouraged more MPs to defect by setting a deadline of early May in an attempt to trigger a wave of losses for the Conservatives.
Reform’s anti-immigration populist brand has taken it to the top of the polls after Labour’s popularity declined soon after Sir Keir Starmer took office.
With many voters still unwilling to return to the Conservatives after the party was in power for 14 years from 2010 to 2024, Farage is running on the mantra that “Britain is broken” and it is the fault of the established parties.
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has stepped up her attacks on Reform in recent weeks, attempting to launch a rearguard action by warning other MPs considering defection that she would not tolerate the distraction of “psychodrama and intrigue”.
On Monday, the Conservative Party responded to Braverman’s defection with an extremely personal attack, with a spokesperson saying: “It was always a matter of when, not if, Suela would defect. The Conservatives did everything we could to look after Suela’s mental health, but she was clearly very unhappy.”
The party later sent a revised statement removing the mental health comment, saying it was a “draft” that was “sent by mistake”.
It also pointedly highlighted Braverman’s failures in the Conservative leadership elections, stating that “she couldn’t even muster enough supporters to get on the ballot” in 2024.
The party said: “She has now decided to try her luck with Nigel Farage, who last year said he did not want her in the reform – they are actually ‘spring cleaning’ us!
A corrections official said the comments on Braverman’s “mental health” were “gutter politics, indicative of what the Conservative Party has become”.
Braverman’s defection was announced at a Reform rally for military veterans on Monday, meaning Reform now has eight MPs, double their number from last summer.
Farage was excited immediately after the announcement, and walked out on stage to single-handedly headline Reform’s latest figure.
“She has obviously thought about it for a long time, but, like many Tory MPs, she has come to the conclusion that the Conservatives are disintegrating,” he told the FT.
Farage later said that he had been speaking to Braverman “repeatedly” for over a year and claimed that she was the most popular Tory MP among Conservative members.
He brushed aside reports that he had previously criticized her, saying he would have wanted her to become party leader if he had been a Conservative MP.
He said Braverman “is now ready to throw his hands up and say we got it wrong, and that’s the first standard”.
Farage has set a deadline of May 7 for other Conservative MPs who want to defect – the date of key elections in England, Wales and Scotland.
The reform is still vulnerable to criticism that it is mobilizing disaffected conservatives while much of its appeal to voters has been that it offers an escape from the past.
Farage was asked on Monday whether former Prime Minister Liz Truss might join Reform, given that his party now has the same number of members in his cabinet as Badenoch’s shadow cabinet.
Farage suggested Truss – who has been in the political wilderness since his disastrous 49 days as prime minister – would not join Reform, but insisted he had not said he was not welcome.
“I didn’t say that. I said it was unlikely,” Farage said.
